July 30: Bl. Mannes, C., O.P., Commemoration

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we make a commemoration of Blessed Mannes, Confessor, of the Order of Preachers.  Since today is a ferial day, the ferial office is prayed according to the rubrics, and a commemoration is made of Bl. Manes at Lauds only.  In addition, a commemoration is made at Lauds of Ss. Abdon and Sennen, Martyrs.

Yesterday, we read from the "Martyrology of the Sacred Order of Friars Preachers":

At Calaruega in Spain, Blessed Mannes, brother of our Father St. Dominic. He possessed sincerity and simplicity to a high degree, and was devoted to contemplation. Rich in merit and renowned for his miracles, he died a holy death in the Cistercian monastery of St. Peter at Gamiel.

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

Compline of Saturday & the Litany of the B.V.M.

A few years ago, while sitting down to pray Compline on a Saturday night after the children went to bed, I was arranging the ribbons and came across something that I had never noticed before in the Dominican Breviary.  The Psalter ends at Compline on Saturday, and the three psalms and their antiphon are contained on pages 214 - 215.  Since there is no reason, then, to flip that page, I never did.  But that night I flipped over the page, to see if there was anything there, and I came across this rubric:

On every Saturday throughout the year, after the recitation of the Hail O Queen, with its ℣. Permit, and the prayer Grant we besech you, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and the invocation Mary, maid with its ℣. and prayer, p. 28* are said in choir.

Lo and behold!  Purely by accident, I stumbled across a wonderful devotion that has been a part of the Dominican Breviary for 400 years!  So on Saturdays throughout the year, after the Salve Regina and the versicle and prayer that follow, the commemoration of St. Dominic is not made.  In its place, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin is prayed.  This makes complete sense when you consider that, since time immemorial, the Church has always considered Saturdays to be especially devoted to the Our Lady.  And what better way to end the week, then to sing the praises of the Mother of God, who spreads forth her mantle of protection over the entire Order.

July 17: Bl. Ceslaus, C., O.P., Commemoration

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we make a commemoration of Blessed Ceslaus, Confessor, of the Order of Preachers.  Since today is a ferial day, the ferial office is prayed according to the rubrics, and a commemoration is made of Bl. Ceslaus at Lauds only.

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

July 13: Bl. James of Voragine, B., C., O.P., Commemoration

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we make a commemoration of Blesssed James of Voragine, Bishop, Confessor, of the Order of Preachers.  Since today is a ferial day, the ferial office is prayed.  A commemoration is made of Bl. James of Voragine at Lauds only.  The collect prayer for this holy bishop speaks of his love for peace and truth.  In these days where there is very little peace, whether between nations, peoples, citizens of the same country, members of Holy Mother Church, and even within families, due so often to a lack of knowledge of, or regard for, Truth, may this holy Dominican bishop pray for us and our deplorable times.

Blessed James is the author of the famous "Golden Legend", a medieval manuscript of saints’ lives that was extremely popular in the Middle Ages.  From “Short Lives of the Dominican Saints” (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, and Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1901):

July 11: Ss. Ignatius and Dominic, Bb, O.P., and Companions, Mm., III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of Ss. Ignatius and Dominic, Bishops, and their Companions, Martyrs.  The feast is III Class, and as such the Ordinary Office is prayed according to the rubrics.

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

Of the glorious band of seventy-seven martyrs beatified by Pope Leo XIII on May 27, in the holy year of Jubilee, 1900, twenty-six are assigned in the Apostolic Brief to the Order of Preachers, nineteen by actual profession, and the remaining seven by their connection with the Dominican mission of Eastern Tonquin. They are often spoken of as the Martyrs of the Annamite Church, the name of Annam having been formerly applied to a larger extent of country than at the present day; and they suffered in the persecution which raged during the years 1838, 1839, and 1840.

July 9: SS. John, O.P., and Companions , Mm., III Cl.

On this day, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the Feast of SS. John of Cologne, O.P., and companions, the Martyr's of Gorcum.  The feast is III Class, so the Ordinary Office is prayed according to the rubrics.  This feast is one of those III Class feasts where everything is provided in the Proper of the Saints, so nothing is required from the Common of the Saints.  At Pretiosa, the obit of Fr. Thomas Hyacinth Cipolletti of Ascoli, 70th Master General of the Order, is made.

Dominican Sister's Office Book

A reader of this blog was kind enough to send along this weblink for an online archive of the 1941 Dominican Sister's Office Book.

This is a wonderful little book, which contains the entire Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary for Dominicans, as well as meditations on the pslams, canticles, and hymns of the office.  Finally, it contains the propers for making a commemoration of each of the Dominican Saints and Blesseds throughout the liturgical year.

(Please note that this online edition is missing pages 112-131, so most of Terce and the beginning of Sext is not included.)

Anyone who is interested in viewing the book can do so by clicking on this link:

archive.org/details/OfficeBookForDominicanSisters