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 Interestingly, this feast superseded the Vigil of All Saints at Matins, as noted in the 1924 Breviarium S.O.P., which states "De Vigilia Sanctorum in Officio nihil fit" at the end of the Office.

LOST TRADITIONS: October 7-14 Octave Of B.V.M. Of The Rosary

If the Order had maintained its system of keeping the octaves of its major feasts, the Octave of the B.V.M. of the Rosary would be celebrated from October 8 till October 14. This is one of the many octaves that the Dominicans included in their calendar, as a means of prolonging the celebration of saints (or in this case, their Patroness), that were casualties of the revisions of Dominican calendar that took place in the middle of the 20th Century. Not all of the Dominican saints had "solemn" octaves after their feast day, but the major ones like St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Peter Martyr did.

Actually, this feast was originally celebrated on the 1st Sunday of October. That is where it appears in the 1909 calendar. This means that the octave was celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of October. You can see the problem that was caused, by assigning feasts of the sanctorale to the Sundays of the year. This, along with the numerous totum duplex feasts of the saints of th eOrder and others led to the situation where the Sundays were hardly ever celebrated as such. Moving the date of the feast to October 7 (the actual day of the Battle of Lepanto) was a nice solution that preserved the solemn celebration of the feast, and avoided the interruption of the temporale.

Every day during the octave, a commemoration was made at Lauds and Vespers using the proper versicle/responsory, Benedictus/Magnificat antiphons provided in the sanctorale.  The versicles and responses come from the feast, as does the antiphon at Lauds (which comes from 1st Vespers of the feast), but I have not been able to tell where the antiphon for Vespers comes from.  In fact, I could not find a translation of the antiphon for Vespers.  So if anyone out there can either translate it, or can point me toward a good English translation of it, i would be immensely appreciative.

Ad Bened. ant.  Speciosa facta es et suavis in deliciis virginitatis sancta Dei genitrix: quam videntes filiae Syon vernantem in floribus rosarum et liliis convalium. Beatissimam praedicaverunt,et regine laudaverunt eam.	Ad Bened. ant.  The holy Mother of God is beautiful and comely in the delights of virginity. When they saw her flourishing among the roses and lilies of the valleys, the maidens of Sion called her happy and queens praised her
V. Elegit eam Deus, et praeelegit eam. R. Et habitare eam facit in tabernaculo suo.	V. God has chosen her, and has given her preference.  R. He gives her his home to dwell in.
Oratio. Deus, cuius Unigenitus per vitam, mortem et resurrectionem suam nobis salutis aeternae praemia comparavit: concede, quaesumus; ut haec mysteria sacratissimo beatae Mariae Virginis Rosario recolentes, et imitemur quod continent, et quod promittunt, assequamur.  Per Dominum nostrum…	Prayer O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech thee, that by meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise.  Through the same…
Ad Magnif. ant.  Sancta Maria virginum piissima suscipe vota servulorum assidua lapsos erige errantes corrige trementes corrobora   pusillanimes conforta ut tibi semper referamus laudes quam Dei summi colimus Genetricem.	Ad Magnif. ant.  Holy Mary, most tender of virgins, receive the constant prayers of your little servants: raise up the fallen, correct the wayward, strengthen the trembling, comfort the faint-hearted: so that we may ever offer praises to you whom we honor as the Mother of the Most High God.
V. Regina sacratissimi Rosarii ora pro nobis. R. Ut digni efficiámur promissiónibus Christi.	V. Queen of the most holy Rosary pray for us.  R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

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. 

October 5: Bl. Raymond of Capua, C., O.P., III Class

 Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of Blessed Raymond of Capua, confessor of the Order of Preachers.  The feast is III Class, so 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):

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

 

A few years ago, 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)

Antiphonarium S.O.P. - 1933

Yesterday, I received the latest, and probably last, addition to my collection of Dominican Rite liturgical books.  The elusive "Antiphonarium Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum - Pro Diurnis Horis".  This is the volume that contains the chant for the day hours of the Dominican office.  It was published in 1933, under the authority of Master General Stanislaus Gillet, O.P..

I'd like to give a big shout out to Tom Kiser of Vivarium Books for keeping his eyes out for this one, which I have been trying to find for years.  He is a great proprietor and a true bibliophile, from whom I have obtained a number of the books in my collection.

It's a great volume, chock full of the wonderful chant that the Order used to use to sing the office.  The binding is tight and the leather cover is in good condition.  Looking forward to using it!