August 28: St. Augustine, B., C., D., II Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of St. Augustine, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor, and Father of the Church.  A III feast in the Roman Rite, the feast is II Class in the Dominican calendar with its own propers, so the semi-festive office is prayed, according to the rubrics.  This is due to the Order’s association with the Doctor of Grace via the Rule of St. Augustine, which our Holy Father adopted as the Rule for his Order in 1216.  Also, at Pretiosa, the obit is read of Albert de Chiavari of Genoa, 10th Master General of the Order.  

August 17: St. Hyacinth, C., O.P., III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of St. Hyacinth.  The feast is III Class so the Ordinary office is prayed according to the rubrics.  Like many III Class feasts of Dominican saints on the calendar, the office for St. Hyacinth contains a full set of propers, as if the office were II Class.  So there are antiphons and responsories at all of the hours, and the Sunday Psalms are prayed at Lauds, rather than the Psalms of the ferial office.

The feast was announced yesterday, at the reading of the Martyrology:

At Cracow in Poland, St. Hyacinth, confessor, of the Order of Preachers. Having received the religious habit from the hands of our Father St. Dominic, he excelled in learning and in a life of admirable innocence. He was celebrated for the glory of his miracles, especially for walking dryshod across wide rivers. Thought deserving of sweet converse with the holy Mother of God, distinguished for his spotless life, and filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, he died at an advanced age. He was called to his eternal reward on the very feastday of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was canonized by Pope Clement VIII.

August 15: Tota pulchra es, amica mea

I just wanted do a quick post about the beauty of 1^st Vespers for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Dominican Rite.

I was home early enough from work yesterday afternoon, so I grabbed my breviary and went out into the backyard to pray 1^st Vespers.  More often than not, I get home from work too late to pray Vespers, so it was a rare treat for me.

In particular, I wanted to point out the very long and beautiful super Psalm antiphon that is chanted before chanting the five (5) Laudate Psalms:

Tota pulchra es, amíca mea, et mácula non est in te: favus distíllans lábia tua, mel et lac sub lingua tua: odor unguentórum tuórum super ómnia arómata: iam enim hiems tránsit, imber ábiit et recéssit: flores apparuérunt, víneæ floréntes odórem dedérunt, et vox túrturis audíta est in terra nostra.  Surge, própera, amíca mea: veni de Líbano, veni coronáberis.

You are all fair, my love; there is no flaw in you.  Your lips distil nectar; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your oils are better than any spice.  See, the winter has past, the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear, the vines are in blossom and give forth fragrance, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.  Arise, come, my love, come from Lebanon, come and be crowned.

As is typical of an office of Our Lady, this antiphon consists of a compilation of some sublime allusions to the Blessed Mother in the Song of Songs.  Then, after the Little Chapter, the responsory is equally long:

℟.  Beáta es, Virgo María, Die Génetrix, quae credidísti Dómino; perfécta sunt in te quæ dicta sunt tibi: ecce exaltáta es super choros Angelórum. * Intercéde pro nobis ad Dóminum Iesum Christum.  ℣. Benedícta et venerábiles es, Virgo María, quæ sine tactu pudóris invénta es Mater Salvatóris. – Intercéde. – Glória. _ Intercéde.

℟.  Blessed are you, Mary, who believed in the Lord.  Those things that were spoken to you are fulfilled in you.  Behold, you have been exalted above the choirs of angels. * Intercede for us with the Lord Jesus Christ.  ℣.  You are blessed and worthy of veneration, O Virgin Mary, who, without any violation of purity, were found to be mother of the Savior. – Intercede. – Glory. – Intercede.

This antiphon joins heartfelt praise of Our Lady’s fiat with praise of her miraculous dual state of virgin and mother…Mother of our Savior.

As Dominicans, we have the glorious and blessed Mary, ever Virgin, as our patroness.  Let us always remember to have loving and confident recourse to her, under the protection of her mantle.  And lest we forget, today is one of the days when Holy Mother Church allows us, as Dominican Tertiaries, to obtain a plenary indulgance.

August 15: Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I Class

Recently, while reading "Christ the Savior" by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. on the Assumption of the B.V.M., I came across the following passage:

Therefore the Blessed Virgin Mary, as Mother of the Savior and the new Eve, is also most closely associated with Christ's perfect victory over death, so that "she could not be held down or detained by the bonds of death, " as the liturgy says[19]; otherwise she would have been vanquished by death and would not have been the vanquisher, and her parallelism with Christ's resurrection and ascension, before the general resurrection of the dead, would be destroyed.  Moreover, the exceptional benediction, "blessed art thou among women," excludes the malediction "into dust thou shalt return." (emphasis mine)

Dominican Breviaries for Sale!!!

Father Augustine Thompson, O.P., who runs the Dominican Liturgy blog, is offering a number of copies of the 1967 English Translation of the Dominican Breviary, as well as the 1962 Breviarium iuxta Ritum Ordinis Praedicatorum!  This is an incredible opportunity, and the prices are incredible, considering what you would have to pay for these volumes on the open market.

If you have always wanted a copy of these rare books, now is your chance to pick one up.  At the prices that he is asking, these will not be around very long.

You can purchase them here.

Thank you Fr. Thompson!

August 8: Blessed Jane of Aza, Mother of Our Holy Father St. Dominic, Commemoration

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we make a commemoration of Blessed Jane of Aza, mother of Our Holy Father St. Dominic. Since today is Saturday, the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday is prayed, and the commemoration is made at Lauds and Vespers since it is a privileged commemoration.  In addition, a second commemoration is made of SS. Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, Martyrs.  At Pretiosa, the obit of Hugh de Vaucemain of France, sixteenth Master General of the Order of Preachers is read.

From the Martyrology:

August 4: Our Holy Father St. Dominic, C., O.P., I Class

O happy parent, Spain, rejoice in giving to the world the joy of new offspring!  But, rejoice still more, Bologna, because you are favored with the glory of so great a father.  O universal Mother Church, sing in praise as you celebrate the festival of this new source of fame!  (Super psalmos antiphon to the Laudate psalms at First Vespers.)