September 15: The Seven Sorrows of the B.V.M.

(I would like to thank everyone who responded to my personal request for prayers last year, on the eve of the feast of the Seven Sorrows of the B.V.M., they were/are very much appreciated.)

Stemus iuxta crucem cum María Matre Iesu, * Cuius ánima dolóris gládius pertransívit.

Let us stand by the cross with Mary the mother of Jesus, * The sword of sorrow has pierced her soul.

Thus begins Matins for today's feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The feast is II Class, so the Semi-Festive office is prayed according to the rubrics.  I've heard it said that May is the month of Mary, but for me it is September.  This month contains four (4) Marian feasts:

- September 8: Nativity of the B.V.M. (II Class)
- September 12: The Most Holy Name of Mary (III Class)
- September 15:  The Seven Sorrows of the B.V.M. (II Class)
- September 24:  B.V.M. of Ransom (Comm.)

In the Dominican breviary, the feast is II Class as in the Roman, but it contains propers for praying the office as a I Class feast as well.  This is because the feast was originally a totum duplex feast, which was celebrated on the III Sunday of the month of September.  Thus we have the magnificent responsory at Vespers, which is a solemn acknowledgement of our culpability in causing the suffering of both our Lord and our Lady by our sins:

September 12: The Most Holy Name of Mary, III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Office, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary.  I truly love this feast, and I look forward to its return each year.  Like the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, it is a feast that is rich in devotion to our Blessed Lady.  It is also steeped in the glorious history of Christendom.  

The feast was announced in the Martyrology during Pretiosa yesterday:

The feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Sovereign Pontiff, Innocent XI, commanded this feast to be celebrated because of the brilliant victory obtained over the Turks at Vienna in Austria by the help of the Blessed Virgin.

September 10: Blessed Alphonsus Navarrete, O.P., and Companions, Mm., III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of Blessed Alfonso Navarrete and Companions.  The feast is III Class, so the ordinary office is prayed according to the rubrics.  A commemoration is made of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor.  The lesson at Matins describes the heroic virtue of these martyrs of Japan.  The Dominicans made up a large contingent of those who were killed.  Also represented were the Franciscans, Jesuits, and Augustinians.

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

September 6: Blessed Bertrand of Garrigue, C., O.P., Commemoration

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we make a commemoration of Blessed Bertrand of Garrigua, Confessor, of the Order of Preachers.  Since today is a ferial day, the ferial office is prayed, and a commemoration is made of Bl. Bertrand at Lauds only.  Bl. Garrigua is on of the few Dominican blesseds who's feast day was retained during the disastrous 1961 calendar revision, which saw the deracination of nearly all of the blesseds of the Order from the calendar.

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

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. 

The 1909 Breviarium Juxta Ritum Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum

Thanks to the gracious generosity of Jose Dominguez, a tertiary from Chicago and a long-time reader of this blog and a lover of the Dominican Rite breviary, I am please to offer a page dedicated to the 1909 Breviarium Juxta Ritum Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum.  On this page, you will find four (4) downloadable files that contain the entire text of both volumes of this magnificent edition of the breviary of the Order.

This edition was the fruit of the labors of one of the finest liturgists in the history of the Order.  Fr. Vincent Laporte, O.P. was a member of the Province of Toulouse and a renowned musician.  In his book "The History of the Dominican Liturgy", Fr. William Bonniwell, O.P. said this of the 1909 Breviarium S.O.P. "For accuracy of text, clarity of rubrics, and convenience of arrangement, it was the finest edition of the Dominican breviary ever published.  The Order was indeed fortunate to receive from this painstaking scholar the fruits of nearly forty years of research."

A link to the page containing the links is now under the blog banner above.  Thank you Jose!

The Elusive Dominican Cuff-Link

For quite some time now, I have been searching for cuff links that use the shield or crest of the Order.  So far, I have come up empty. And I find this quite frustrating because this seems like a no-brainer to me.  The shield, after all, is ideally shaped to be a cuff link.  And I refuse to believe that I am the first person in the past few hundred years, to have had this inspiration.

After all, you can find the Jerusalem Cross (symbol of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem) on cuff links, as well as the Maltese Cross, which is the symbol of the Knights of St. John.  You can also find Benedictine cuff-links.  So why not the Dominican shield?

I have the lapel pin, which I purchased from this online store.  But I have searched in vain for a set of cuff links.  I would be most grateful to any reader, particularly outside the United States (since I believe I have scoured the US via the internet unsuccessfully) if you could forward me a weblink to a store that sells this elusive element of sartorial esoterica.