December 22: The Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Comm.

    Happy Anniversary to the Order of Preachers!

I say it every year, and I will say it again, I so thoroughly and truly enjoy this feast.  As a member of the Order, it brings me great joy to know that I am part of a family that is now overs 800 year old, and which has been endowed by almighty God with so many holy men and women.  It is also a great joy to me that there is a specific date which serves as the birthday, so to speak, for the Order, and that it is marked by acknowledging Our Lady's patronage over this magnificent religious order founded by Out Holy Father, St. Dominic.  Since today is the 4th Sunday of Advent no commemoration of the feast is made at Lauds when prayed in choir.  However, in my private recitation, I made the commemoration.

December 6: St. Nicholas, B., C., III Class

Per tradition, I always post on what I see as "links" between St. Nicholas, who's feast we celebrate today, and the Dominican Order.  The feast of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, is one of my favorite non-Dominican feasts in the liturgical calendar.  It holds the liturgical rank of III Class, as in the Roman Rite, but unlike the latter rite the Dominican Breviary contains a near-complete set of propers, as if the feast were II Class (you can download the text of the propers here, taken from the 1967 English Translation of the Breviarium S.OP.).

I have stumbled across a number of connections between St. Nicholas and our holy Order.  I wrote a post about how the feast of St. Nicholas was elevated to a totum duplex (1st Class) feast.  The next year, I did a post on how the famous mystical experience which ended St. Thomas Aquinas' prolific theological writing career occurred on the feast of St. Nicholas, right after the Angelic Doctor finished offering the Mass of this saint.  I also posted on the fact that, when St. Dominic was nearing death, and was too ill to walk, he was carried by the brethren by stretcher to the Church of St. Nicholas in Bologna.  And there, surrounded by his fellow friars, he passed to his eternal reward.  Finally, in 2018, I posted on a scholarly article which suggested that the famous O lumen ecclesiae antiphon for the office of St. Dominic may have borrowed heavily from an existing antiphon for...you guessed it, the office of St. Nicholas (O Christi Pietas).  You can find it here.

As always, I remind anyone who reads this blog to check out the website of a wonderful organization called The St. Nicholas Center, who contacted me two years ago to ask if they could include my post from last year on St. Nicholas and the Dominicans on their website.  I was happy to oblige.  This organization seeks to promote and educate the world on this wonderful saint, who is the inspiration for Santa Claus.

Prayer

O God, you adorned the blessed bishop Nicholas with countless miracles; grant, we beseech you, that through his merits and prayers, we may be delivered from the flames of hell.  Through our Lord...

December 1: Blessed John of Vercelli, C., O.P., Commemoration

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we make a commemoration of Blessed John of Vercelli, 6^th Master General of the Order.  Since it is the first Sunday of Advent, his commemoration is not made.

Although Humbert de Romans is generally regarded as the “father” of the Dominican Rite of Mass and Office, it was Blessed John of Vercelli who, in the year 1267, petitioned Pope Clement IV to formally approve the Dominican Office.  Pope Clement IV did so in the Bull "Consurgit in nobis", issued on July 7, 1267.  He is also the founder of the Holy Name Society.

The Ferial Office During Advent

In the Dominican Breviary, the ferial office in Advent draws heavily from the Book of Jeremiah for the Little Chapter (Lauds, Terce, Sext, and Vespers). The versicle before Lauds is from Isaiah 6. Each one builds upon the Old Testament Prophets' anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, just as the Church now does during Advent.

The ferial days in Advent have the rank of III Class, until December 17.  During these days, when a III Class feast occurs in the Proper of the Saints, a commemoration is made of the ferial day at Lauds and Vespers.  From December 17 through December 23, the ferial days have the rank of II Class.  During this period, when a III Class feast occurs, the ferial office is prayed and a commemoration of the III Class feast is made at Lauds and Vespers.  The preces are prayed on all of these ferial days.