The Holy Day Of The Pasch

This Day Was Made By The Lord; We Rejoice And Are Glad.

A blessed Easter to all the readers and followers of the Breviarium S.O.P. blog!!

There are a number of peculiarities in the Dominican Office for today's holy feast.  Among these are some interesting additions to the Office of Vespers for today, and the following Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  In addition to the shortened psalter that you also find in the Roman Breviary, the Dominican Breviary contains the following:

Video of Solemn Dominican Rite Mass in Rome

The Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer has uploaded a wonderful video of the beautiful Solemn Mass in the Dominican Rite that was offered on March 7 for the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. The Mass was offered at the Fraternity of St Peter’s Roman parish, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini.

The Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer uses the traditional Dominican liturgical books for the celebration of Mass and the Office.

You can see the video on their website here.

Dominican Tertiary Indulgence Alert

Dominican Tertiaries (Lay Dominicans) are reminded that a plenary indulgence may be acquired, provided the usual conditions (confession, Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff) are properly fulfilled, who make or renew, at least privately, the promise to faithfully observe the statutes of the Third Order (Lay Fraternity of St. Dominic) on the upcoming Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday, March 27.

The complete list of days when the plenary indulgence may be obtained, can be found here, at the Australian Province Website.

1909 Breviarium Juxta Ritum Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum - Pars Posterior

As I mentioned in a previous post, there are deals out there...you just need to look for them.  The latest edition to my collection of Dominican liturgical books arrived a few days ago.  It is Volume II (pars posterior) of the 1909 Breviarium Juxta Ritum Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum.  I have been looking for this edition for a while, and this is a nice first step toward obtaining the complete set for my collection.

It is in remarkably good condition, with clean pages and a very tight binding.  A few pencil markings on the pages here and there, but other than that it is spotless.  It has been rebound in a leather cover, but the cover does not contain the usual crest or shield of the Order, and the binding merely says "Breviarium II"...not Breviarium S.O.P. as it should (UPDATE: I received an email from Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P. regarding the binding, and he informed me that the binding is, in fact, authentic.  He said that he has a copy of the 1909 Breviarium and that it looks just like mine.  He also said that the imprint of the Dominican shield on the breviaries was a practice that started after this breviary, and after the reform of St. Pius X).  Aside from that, it is a real gem!  This was the last REAL Dominican breviary, as this was the last to contain the ancient monastic psalter, as modified by the Order for their use.  Its calendar contains the full gamut of saints and blesseds of the Order (of that time) as well as many of the octaves that the Order celebrated of its own saints, and those of the general liturgical calendar as well.

The Ferial Office During Passiontide

We are now in the final two (2) weeks of Lent, which the Church has traditionally referred to as Passiontide.  The rubrics of the Office change once again, and take on an even more solemn tone.  With the exception of the Feast of the Annunciation this week, we will be praying the ferial office of Passiontide every day.  III Class feasts of the saints are reduced to a commemoration at Lauds and Vespers.

April and May are right around the corner, and they are truly spectacular months for those of us who pray the Dominican Breviary. April contains the feasts of St. Vincent Ferrer (April 5), Our Lord's Most Holy Crown of Thorns (April 24), St. Agnes of Montepulciano (April 20), St. Louis de Montfort (April 28), St. Peter Martyr (April 29) and St. Catherine of Siena (April 30).  May starts off with St. Pius V (May 5).  Then we have the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mediatrix of All Graces (May 8), St. Antonius (May 10) , Blessed Imelda (May 13), the Transfer of Our Holy Father St. Dominic (May 24), and finally Bl. William and his Companions (May 29).  Of course, not all of these feasts will be celebrated this year, since a few of them are impeded by the glorious feast days associated with Easter and Pentecost, however we can still avail ourselves of the beautiful collect prayers at some time during that day, to ask the Lord to hear the prayers of these wonderful Dominican saints on our behalf.  

Compline During Lent - Passion Sunday to Holy Thursday

One of the unique features of the Dominican Rite of Office is the variability of much of the Office of Compline during during the seasons of Lent, Passiontide, Paschaltide, Ascensiontide, and through out the octave of Pentecost, when the hymn, Little Chapter, and responses change.

Solemn Dominican Rite Mass In Rome

Thanks to Gregory DiPipo at New Liturgical Movement for providing pictures of the Solemn Mass in the Dominican Rite that was offered on March 7 for the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. The Mass was offered by the Society of St. Vincent Ferrer at the Fraternity of St Peter’s Roman parish, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini.

The Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer uses the traditional Dominican liturgical books for the celebration of Mass and the Office.

March 7: St. Thomas Aquinas, C., D., O.P., I Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, of the Order of Preachers.  The feast is I Class and the festive office is prayed according to the rubrics.  No commemoration of the Lenten office is made.  All is given in the Proper of the Saints.

1st Vespers of St. Thomas Aquinas

Just a quick note on 1st Vespers late this afternoon, since we have a concurrence between 2nd Vespers of the 4th Sunday of Lent (1st Class) and 1st Vespers of St. Thomas Aquinas (1st Class).

As I read the Table of Concurrences in the Breviary, we pray the office of 2nd Vespers of the 4th Sunday of Lent, and make a commemoration of 1st Vespers of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Ever since I have been writing this blog, the Feast of St. Thomas has fallen on a weekday, so it typically takes precedence over the feria...even in Lent.  However, it got me to thinking about an occasion where his feast falls on a Sunday of Lent.  It looks like his feast fell on a Sunday in 2010, and it is scheduled to do so again in 2021.   As I read the Table of Occurrences, the Sunday of Lent would be celebrated and St. Thomas' feast would actually be transferred.

If I have that wrong, I'd love to hear from some of you readers.  A happy feast of St. Thomas Aquinas to all of you who read this blog.

New Liturgical Movement: Dominican Solemn Mass in Rome, March 7

New Liturgical Movement: Dominican Solemn Mass in Rome, March 7