First Vespers of the First Sunday in Advent

The very first canonical hour of the new liturgical year is a wonderful moment ... to begin praying the Office, the Roman Breviary (or the traditional Breviaries of different orders and uses of the Latin Church).

Do you have a Breviarium Romanum published between 1912 and 1960, but are not sure of how to use it according to the 1960 rubrics? The Variationes, published together with the 1960 Codex Rubricarum, make your life quite easy: we make them available to you in  a printable version of the original Latin text (provided by Mr. Laszlo Kiss, R.I.P.). The changes are available in English from page 118 of the excellent translation and commentary by Fr. Patrick Murphy, made public by the FSSP Sydney Latin Mass Community. And do not forget this particular source: Divinum Officium, which may be of great help.

Divino Afflatu centennial - III The Centenary of Divino Afflatu and St. Pius X’s Breviary Reforms: A Personal Appreciation

All Saints' Day, the first day in November, marks the first centennial of the Apostolic Constitution "Divino Afflatu", signed by Pope Saint Pius X in 1911. This remarkable document enacted, among other measures, the order of the psalter used in the recitation of the Divine Office in the Traditional, Ancient, or Extraordinary Use of the Roman Rite - the Breviarium Romanum, according to the rubrics of 1960, which may be used as the normative Office by all those in the clerical state in the Latin Church (Summorum Pontificum, Art. 9, § 3) and, naturally, by all lay faithful who wish to do so (and are, indeed, encouraged to do so - Sacrosanctum Concilium, 100).

Fr. Anthony Cekada, regardless of our natural and strong disagreements with him in a matter of rock-solid and foundational relevance, is one of the most knowledgeable living analysts of the liturgical developments of the Latin Church in the last few centuries. His most famous publication, Work of Human Hands: A Theological Critique of the Mass of Paul VI (Philothea Press - also now with a related YouTube channel), has received compliments from different places (from Msgr. A. Wadsworth, ICEL General Secretary, who remarked that it is "full of interesting and credible analysis... an important contribution... scholarly ...I encourage others to read it," to Dr. Alcuin Reid, who, in a review published by The New Liturgical Movement, wrote that “Father Cekada’s great service is to flag the big question that we have not widely, as yet, been prepared to face…," that is, “if the Missal of Paul VI is indeed in substantial discontinuity with the preceding liturgical and theological tradition, this is a serious flaw requiring correction.”)

We deeply thank him for accepting our invitation to put his vast liturgical knowledge to good use once again in writing this most thorough (and also very personal) account of the impact of the admirable work put in place by Saint Pius X one hundred years ago today and that is an intimate part of the life of every traditional priest, every single day, from Matins to Compline.

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The Centenary of Divino Afflatu

and St. Pius X’s Breviary Reforms:

A Personal Appreciation

by

Rev. Anthony Cekada

  

Divino Afflatu centennial - II: comparing the Psalter orders before and after St.Pius X

In this second commemorative post on the first centennial of Divino Afflatu, of Pope Saint Pius X, on the reform of liturgical rubrics and the alteration of the order of the Psalter in the Roman Breviary, we take a closer look at the latter.

The changes in the order of the psalter were, by far, the most noticeable consequence of Divino Afflatu. For the first time in centuries, the order of psalms of most hours was changed - and the holy Pope explained why:

Even at present the psalter should be recited in its entirety within the week were it not that owing to the changed condition of things such recitation is frequently hindered. ... More than once serious complaints have been made by prudent and pious men about this omission, on the ground that owing to it those in sacred orders have been deprived of so many admirable aids for praising the Lord and expressing the inmost feelings of the soul, and that it has left them without that desirable variety in praying so highly necessary for our weakness in supplicating worthily, attentively, and devoutly.

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The centennial of the Apostolic Constitution "Divino Afflatu"

The centennial of the Apostolic Constitution Divino Afflatu, of Pope Saint Pius X, on the reform of the rubrics and arrangement of the Roman Breviary and on some matters related to the Roman Missal, is coming up on November 1st, All Saints', as our readers are able to notice in our commemorative header above. We plan some posts to mark this major liturgical occasion, but we are always open to contributions of all kinds on this consequential accomplishment of the Sarto pontificate.