LOST FEASTS: October 31 - Commemoration of the Holy Relics

 

One of the great tragedies of the 20th century liturgical changes was the "Romanization" of the Dominican calendar that occurred in the revision of 1960, and which is codified in the calendar of the 1962 Breviarium iuxta ritum sacri ordinis praedicatorum. Many wonderful Dominican feasts were removed from the liturgical calendar of the Order, including those of many Dominican blessed's and many other feasts that were particular to the Dominican Order.  One such feast was the Feast of the Holy Relics.

As noted in the Martyrology of the Sacred Order of Friars Preachers (Bonniwell, 1955), this feast was a commemoration of "holy martyrs and of the other saints, whose bodies or relics are preserved in our churches." In the 1909 Breviarium iuxta ritum sacri ordinis praedicatorum the feast is celebrated on October 30, however in the 1924 Breviarium S.O.P. it appears on October 31, the Vigil of All Saints Day, and remained there until it was removed in 1960. The feast had the rank of a totum duplex feast, which in 1962 would have been considered a 1st Class Feast. For the Office, everything was taken from the Common of Many Martyrs, except the Collect (see below), and lessons 4, 5, and 6 at Matins, which were taken from a tract by St. John Damascene's "De Fide Orthodoxa" . A commemoration of St. Quintinus was also made. Interestingly, this feast superseded the Vigil of All Saints at Matins, as noted in the 1924 Breviarium S.O.P., which states "De Vigilia Sanctorum in Officio nihil fit" at the end of the Office.

October 7: The Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary, I Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary.  The feast is I Class in the calendar of the Dominican Order, so the festive office is prayed according to the rubrics.  Traditionally, Dominican Tertiaries would fast on the vigil of this great feast.  The hymns at 1st Vespers, Matins, and Lauds celebrate the three traditional groupings of mysteries...the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious.  You can download the entire English translation of the office here.

The great feast was announced at Pretiosa yesterday:

The Commemoration of Our Lady of Victory, which Pope Plus V instituted to be made annually, on account of the famous victory gained on this very day by the Christians in a naval battle against the Turks, by the assistance of the same Mother of God. However, Gregory XIII decreed that for the same victory there should be celebrated on the first Sunday of this month the annual solemnity of the Rosary of the Most Blessed Virgin. 

LOST FEAST: September 25: Commemoration of Our Holy Father St. Dominic in Suriano

Prior to the revision of the liturgical calendar of the Order initiated in 1960, the feast of the Commemoration of Our Holy Father St. Dominic in Suriano would be celebrated today, if it were not a Sunday.  The feast was always a totum duplex feast, equivalent to a Ist Class feast in the 1962 breviary classification system.    I know I complain often about how so many feasts were removed from the Dominican calendar, but this one really baffles me, as it is such a wonderful way to pay tribute to the patronage of St. Dominic, our Lady, and the two (2) "unofficial" patronesses of the Order, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Catherine of Alexandria.

The feast was traditionally celebrated on September 15, and the Feast of the Seven Dolors or Our Lady was celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of the month of September.  However, I believe, when the feast of the Seven Dolors was fixed on September 15, this feast was transferred to September 25 until it was deleted from the calendar.

Ad Pretiosa - Part II

Following up on a post from way back in 2016, I have finally made the attempt to post the text of Pretiosa in Latin and English in a blog post.  Blogger is terrible for this sort of thing, so I apologize for the terrible quality of the presentation in advance.

If you have never heard of Pretiosa, I encourage you to read the previous post at the link above.  This is a wonderful piece of Dominican tradition which highlights the Order's continual care for their dead, particularly deceased Master's General.  In the 1962 edition of the Dominican office, on ferial days, an excerpt from the Rule of St. Augustine is read.  But in older editions (like the 1909 edition) the readings were taken from the Constitutions of the Order.

September 5: Anniversary of the Associates and Benefactors of our Order

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we commemorate the Anniversary of the Deceased Associates and Benefactors of our Order.  The commemoration is made at Pretiosa as follows:

The Anniversary of the deceased friends and benefactors of our Order. 

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.  The feast is II Class, and so we would normally pray the Festive office.  However, since today is a Sunday, the Sunday office is prayed and a commemoration is made of St. Augustine at Lauds only.  Also, at Pretiosa, the obit is read of Albert de Chiavari of Genoa, 10th Master General of the Order. August 28:  St. Augustine, B., C., D., II Class

The Order’s has always given high honor to the Doctor of Grace, in part because our founder St. Dominic adopted the Rule of St. Augustine as the Rule for his Order in 1216. 

LOST FEAST: August 11: The Octave of our Holy Father St. Dominic

Prior to the revision of the Breviary and liturgical calendar instituted by Pope St. Pius XII, the Octave of Our Holy Father St. Dominic would be celebrated today, August 11.  This would be the final act in our long celebration of the feast of St. Dominic.  A fitting tribute to the saintly founder of the Order of Preachers, if I do say so myself.  When you add up all of the preparation (the 15 Tuesdays, the Novena, the feast itself, the commemoration in the octave, and finally, the octave day itself) it is a sure and salutary means of developing a loving devotion to our holy father through our liturgical celebrations.

In the pre-1962 Breviarium S.O.P.'s, the feast had the rank of "solemne", which would be considered at least a 2nd Class Feast in the ranking system that was adopted with the 1962 breviary.  For Lauds, Vespers, and the little hours, the office of the feast was prayed.  At Lauds, a commemoration was made of St. Tiburtius.  At Matins the office was that of three (3) lessons.  For the first nocturn, the responsories are proper, and the lessons from the previous Sunday are used.  At the second nocturn, the lessons and the responsories are proper; the lessons being taken from the life of St. Dominic by Theodoric.  The third nocturn is like the first, with the responsories being proper, but the Gospel and homily on the Gospel are taken from the previous Sunday.

At Pretiosa, on August 10, the octave was announced thus "The Octave day of our holy Father Dominic. A solemn octave."  Even though the feast day is no longer on the calendar, I pray the office of St. Dominic anyway, since I am only displacing a ferial day.