Septuagesima Sunday: The Wounds Of Sin

The holy Season of Septuagesima begins...the pre-preparation for the Season of Lent.  At Pretiosa this morning, the reading from the martyrology began "Septuagesima Sunday -- the Sunday on which is discontinued the Canticle of the Lord, the Alleluia."

The Gospel reading is the parable of the householder who hires laborers to work in his vineyard.  At Matins, Lesson iii is an excerpt from St. Gregory the great's magnificent homily on this parable.  It is one of my favorite patristic homilies, and I return to it often during the year, reading bits and pieces of it now and again, for spiritual edification.  If you have a relative or loved one who has fallen away from the Church, and you are anxious for their eternal welfare, I highly recommend this homily.  You can find an English translation of it here.

Today we also say good by to the wonderful Magnificat antiphon what we have been saying, at !st Vespers of the Sundays after the Epiphany.  I don't know anything about it's origin, but it is a brief and beautiful summary of the absolute necessity of humility and repentance for any healthy interior life.  I look forward to praying it each year.

February 15: Blessed Henry Suso, C., O.P., III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of Blessed Henry Suso, confessor of the Order of Preachers.  The feast is III Class and the ordinary office is prayed according to the rubrics.  What is proper to the feast is given in the Proper of the Saints.

February 14: Blessed Jordan of Saxony, C., O.P., III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, confessor and 2^nd Master General of the Order of Preachers.  The feast is III Class, and the Ordinary Office is prayed, with propers taken from the Proper of the Saints.  At Lauds and Vespers a commemoration of St. Valentine, Martyr is made.

February 6: Anniversary Of Our Deceased Parents

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we commemorate the Anniversary of the Deceased Parents of the members of our Order.  The ferial office is prayed, with a commemoration of Ss. Vedast and Amand.  At Pretiosa, the Anniversary is announced as follows:

"The anniversary of our Fathers and Mothers;"

Psalm 129 is prayed, as it always is on the day of an Anniversary.  Afterwards, the Prayer for the Anniversary is prayed:

O God, Lord of mercies, give to the souls of your servants, whose anniversary we keep, the home of refreshment, the blessedness of peace and the brightness of light.  Through Christ our Lord.

February 2: The Purification of the B. V. M., II Class

Today, the Christmas season finally comes to an official end, with the glorious feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This is one of those feasts in the Dominican Office which contains a responsory at 1st Vespers (and at the ix lesson at Matins) which is, shall we say, antagonistic toward the unbelieving Jews and directly mocks their own lack of faith in our Lady's perpetual virginity.  (Another one can be found at 2nd Vespers of Easter Sunday, which mocks their lack of belief in the Resurrection).

The 1962 Breviarium SOP retained the pre-reformed office of 1st Vespers (for use where it is celebrated as a 1st Class Feast).  That hour includes an arrangement that, to my knowledge, does not appear on any other feast in the Dominican Breviary.  I also don;t see it in the monastic or Roman Breviaries.

After the Little Chapter is prayed, the respond is prayed as follows:

℟. Rejoice, Virgin Mary, alone you have destroyed all heresies. You trusted in the words of the archangel Gabriel. * While a virgin, you brought forth God and man; and after childbirth, you remained a virgin inviolate.  ℣.  We know that the angel Gabriel spoke to you by God's decree; we believe that your womb was made fruitful by the Holy Spirit.  Let the unhappy Jew blush who says that Christ was born of Joseph's seed. - While a virgin. - Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

At this point, the resumption of the respond is omitted, and instead the Inviolata prayer is immediately taken up:

Mary, Maid inviolate, chaste and undefiled,  Mother well beloved of Christ, your own true child.You were made the shining gate of Heaven above,Accept from us these words of praise we offer you with love.We now implore devoutly, from the heart within,That our souls be stainless, our bodies free from sin.May you bring us ever is our earnest prayer,  The pardon that is granted through your moving pleading rare.O gracious one who alone has remained immaculate.

A genuflection is made immediately, as the Ave maris stella is begun, until the second stanza.

Happy Feast Day!