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Vigils and Office of Readings time..., Part 2 Lee Friday, February 11, 2005

Question:

The relevant rubrics are these: indeed, the liturgical day runs from midnight to midnight, officially, except for days that begin with First Vespers. (Side note: the invitatory, rubrically, precedes only Matins and Lauds, "whichever" begins the day. The invitatory doesn't always signal a new liturgical day, because sometimes the day began already with First Vespers and, occasionally, a proper Vigil Mass).

The issue here wouldn't seem to be "can" one legally do Saturday Matins in the evening, after First Vespers of Sunday. The thing is, there is a proper extended Vigil for Matins of Sunday, designed for anticipation on Saturday night. So, if one were to want to observe Matins on Saturday night, there is already a special form written for that time, and, in addition, the new liturgical day has already begun.

There is no official time in the rubrics for when one can legally observe anticipated Matins; it just says in the evening, after Vespers. But it would make no sense to begin your liturgical day, for instance, with the First Vespers of Pentecost and possibly Pentecost Vigil Mass, and then pray Matins of the Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter. Under such logic, one could attend an Easter Vigil at say 8:00 p.m. and then go home and pray Matins of Holy Saturday.

The operative rubric would seem to be that the liturgical day always runs from midnight to midnight, except when there is First Vespers, and, perhaps more pointedly, that the Office provides proper texts for the anticipation of Matins on any Sunday, solemnity, or even feast.

The most famous of these observances is Christmas, where the extended Matins is immediately followed by Midnight Mass.

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM


Dear Lee:

I understand your point and your logic, I just do not agree with your interpretation and conclusions and it does not appear that the GILOH and the Ordinary agree with you either.

I cannot see that the extended vigils is a special form written for this time that somehow precludes saying Saturday Office of Readings. The extended form is optional and designed for those who wish to pray the more traditional longer version of the Office of Readings, nothing more.

The text of the explanation of these extended readings found in Appendix 1 states:

Those who wish to extend the celebration of the vigils of Sunday, solemnities, and feasts, according to tradition, first celebrate the Office of Readings. After both readings and before the "Te Deum", they may add canticles and a gospel reading as indicated below.

If a person has decided to offer the Office of Readings in the evening after Vespers each day because that is how it works into their schedule, or for whatever reasons, then it only makes sense to pray the Saturday Office on Saturday night, and the Sunday Office on Sunday night otherwise a person would be missing the Saturday Office and never read it under this schedule.

The Office of Readings does not have to be prayed as a "vigil" even on Christmas. It is an option.

As for the issue of what begins the liturgical day, the day itself and the liturgical days do not have coincide. The Ordinary says, "The Invitatory belongs at the very beginning of each day's prayer." And then expands this thought by saying, "It precedes either the Office of Readings or Morning Prayer; the liturgical day may begin with either hour."

The Ordinary, which would mention this major exception, does not mention an exception to this. Vespers, by its very nature is not the beginning of the day. The language of Vespers refers to the ending of a day.

Thus I disagree with you and rather follow the logic that is consistent with the text of the document that implies that First Vespers, by definition and by instruction of the Ordinary, cannot be the beginning of the liturgical day and therefore does not include the Invitatory which is mandated to begin each liturgical day.

Thus the bottomline, as far as I can tell, is that praying Saturday Office of Readings after Vespers and before Compline on Saturday is permissible.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary