Who Is Dominican Tertiary?

In case anyone out there is wondering, I am an American man, living in the United States.  I am married and have a family.  I am in the 45 - 55 year old age range.  I have been a Roman Catholic all my life, and I am completely loyal to the Magisterium of the Church, and our Holy Father Pope Francis.  I am also a novice in the Lay Fraternity of St. Dominic (Dominican Third Order).

Though my parents did the best job they could, during the turbulent 70's and 80's, to raise me Catholic,  I was not a truly "practicing" Catholic until about 2000.   Around that time a very dear friend of mine was trying to draw me closer to Christ and the Church, something my father had also been attempting for a number of years.  Their efforts were supplemented that year by my encounter with a Traditionalist priest, who introduced me to both the Traditional Mass, and St. Thomas Aquinas.  The rest, as they say, is history.

1967 Dominican Breviary On-Line

As has been reported over at New Liturgical Movement and Dominican Liturgy, the good folks at Corpus Christi Watershed, have posted a scan of Volume II of the 1967 English translation of the 1962 Breviarium Iuxta ritum sacri ordinis praedicatorum, and it is available as a pdf download.  This is the edition that I use daily when praying the office.

This edition was a project of the Irish Dominican Province, and was issued with the approbation of Fr. Aniceto Fernandez, O.P., who was Master General of the Order of Preachers during the tumultuous period from 1962 - 1974.  It was published in 1967 by St. Savrour's Press, Dublin, Ireland.  The translation of elements of the Old Testament are a combination of those from the Douay and the Revised Standard Version.  The psalm translation is that of the Grail edition.  Being issued after the close of Vatican Council II, the editors made the decision to remove the Office of Prime, which had been suppressed by the conciliar Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium.

December 25: The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, I Class

℣. Puer natus est nobis.	℣. To us a child is born.
℟. Et filius datus est nobis.	℣. To us a son is given.

(Versicle before Lauds)

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  The feast is 1^st Class, with a 2^nd Class octave.  The Festive Office is prayed. with everything being taken from the Proper of the Season for this day.

December 24: Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I Class

℣. Tomorrow the transgression of the earth will be blotted out.  ℟. And the Savior of the world will reign over us.  (Versicle before Lauds for the Vigil of the Nativity).

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  The feast is 1st Class so the Festive Office is prayed.  At Pretiosa, we read the Martyrology for December 25:

December 23: O Emmanuel

At Vespers on these days, we pray one of the "O" antiphons at the Magnificat.  Today, December 23, the antiphon is "O Emmanuel":

O Emmanuel, Rex et légifer noster, exspectátio Géntium, et Salvátor eárum: veni ad salvándum nos, Dómine Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, King and Lawgiver, the one longed for by the nations, their Savior; come and save us, Lord our God.

From "Liturgical Meditations for the Entire Year" by the Sisters of St. Dominic, Adrian, MI (B. Herder, 1960):

In her last great invocation to the King-Messiah, the Church calls Him by the greatest and holiest of His titles:  Emmanuel, God with us.  Looking to the throne of the Most High, she acknowledges His eternal royalty and infinite dominion.  With adoration, humility, and confidence she pleads for His coming.

As we go about our final preparations fo the visit of our divine Lord, let us repeat often in the depths of our soul His name:  Emmanuel.  Only by continual and reverent meditation upon His glorious title can we grasp its significance:  God with us.  To redeem our wretchedness and purchase forgiveness of our sins, the eternal Son of God becomes out brother, clothes Himself in our nature, assumes the pains, humiliations, and necessities of our humanity.

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

Happy Anniversary to the Order of Preachers!

I 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 nearly 800 years 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.  The ferial Office for Advent is prayed, and a commemoration of the feast is made at Lauds only.

December 22: O Rex Géntium

At Vespers on these days, we pray one of the "O" antiphons at the Magnificat.  Today, December 22, the antiphon is "O Rex Gentium":

O Rex Géntium, * et desiderátus eárum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utráque unum: veni, et salva hóminem, quem de limo formásti.

O King and treasure of the nations, the corner-stone that makes the two into one; come and save man whom you fashioned from dust.

From "Liturgical Meditations for the Entire Year" by the Sisters of St. Dominic, Adrian, MI (B. Herder, 1960):

Today’s liturgy calls upon the Holy One of Israel, desired of all nations, to come and rescue the human race.  Formed of clay and corrupted by sin, man is in need of a Savior.  From the heights of heaven there comes to him the Lord of the world, the King of nations, the eternal Son of God.

Without a keen sense of our own wretchedness we shall fail to appreciate the benefit of redemption.  If we are not fully convinced that of our selves we are the dust of the earth incapable of a single good thought or meritorious action, we shall not cry out for help to Him who cometh to us from afar.  The more completely we realize our need, the more earnestly we shall implore Him to come quickly that He may relieve our misery.  There is no more fitting preparation for His arrival than the sincere admission of our dependence upon Him.  “Behold the afflictions of Thy people.  Come and deliver us as Thou hast promised” (Matins for the 1^st Sunday of Advent, Dominican Breviary).