Trivia Thread

[Ann M]

Matins
Lauds
Prime
Terce
Sext
None
Vespers
Compline

So we'll take a guess at Vigil.

 

[Paul S]

It's one of those. Now which one?

 

[Paul S]

And the All Souls' question is still out there, which I posted above.

 

[Ann M]

Normally, in the traditional Office, the Gloria Patri is said after each Psalm. What is this replaced with on All Souls' Day, and when is All Souls' Day?

Here's a hint with the last part - there's more than one possible day.

Deus Israel conjunga

November 2

Paul we found this reference for a second date - but it's for All Saint's Day, not All Soul's Day.

In the sixth century, Pope Boniface IV accepted the Pantheon as a gift from the Emperor Phocas and proclaimed May 13, 610 Feast of All Holy Martyrs held. He dedicated it as the Church of Santa Maria Rotonda in honor of the Blessed Virgin and all martyrs.

During Pope Gregory III's reign, the festival was expanded to include all saints and a chapel in St. Peter's church was dedicated accordingly. In 835, Pope Gregory IV changed the date to November 1 and the name to Feast of All Saints.

 

[Ann M]

Vespers?

 

[Paul S]

November 2 is right (as it is in the revised 1970 calendar), but it's not the only day.

 

[Paul S]

Not Vespers.

 

[Ann M]

Now I get it!

You just want me to tell you that All Soul's Day is celebrated on the 3rd November if the 2nd is a Sunday.

 

[Ann M]

Compline?

 

[Ann M]

Darling Beloved tells me that he used to go to a Mass at Prime where the Alleluia was last said.

Darling Beloved says to tell you that he was an Altar boy when the priests said Mass in Latin!!

 

[Paul S]

Correct on both.

Since a funeral Mass can never be said on Sundays (with a few exceptions), All Souls' Day is moved to the 3rd if the 2nd is a Sunday.

But that's only half the question.

At I Vespers of Septuagesima Sunday (said on Saturday night), the Closing Versicles are said as follows:

V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

V. Benedicamus Domino, alleluja, alleluja.
R. Deo gratias, alleluja, alleluja.

V. Fidelium animae, per misericordiam Dei, requiescant in pace.
R. Amen.

And with that, Alleluja is never said until the Easter Vigil.

The Opening Versicles, from Compline before Septuagesima Sunday through None of Holy Saturday, are then said this way.

V. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende.
R. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Laus tibi Domine, rex aeternae Gloria.

 

[Ann M]

Correct on both.

Since a funeral Mass can never be said on Sundays (with a few exceptions), All Souls' Day is moved to the 3rd if the 2nd is a Sunday.

But that's only half the question.

At I Vespers of Septuagesima Sunday (said on Saturday night), the Closing Versicles are said as follows:

V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

V. Benedicamus Domino, alleluja, alleluja.
R. Deo gratias, alleluja, alleluja.

V. Fidelium animae, per misericordiam Dei, requiescant in pace.
R. Amen.

And with that, Alleluja is never said until the Easter Vigil.

The Opening Versicles, from Compline before Septuagesima Sunday through None of Holy Saturday, are then said this way.

V. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende.
R. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Laus tibi Domine, rex aeternae Gloria.

Only 1/2 of what question?

 

[Paul S]

That's what I get for having two questions going.

Normally, in the traditional Office, the Gloria Patri is said after each Psalm. What is this replaced with on All Souls' Day, and when is All Souls' Day?

You got the second part right - November 2nd, or November 3rd if the 2nd is a Sunday.

 

[Ann M]

How about :

Libera Me

(Domine, de morte aeterna, etc.).

The responsory sung at funerals. It is a responsory of redundant form, having two versicles ("Tremens factus sum" and "Dies illa"). As in all the Office for the Dead, the verse "Requiem aeternam" takes the place of "Gloria Patri"; then all the first part, down to the first versicle, is repeated. Its form therefore is exceptional, considerably longer than the normal responsory. It is a prayer in the first person singular for mercy at the Last Day.

Requiem aeternam
Eternal Rest Grant unto Them

This prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours is graced with a partial indulgence for souls in purgatory.

REQUIEM aeternam dona ei (eis), Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei (eis). Requiescat (-ant) in pace. Amen.

ETERNAL rest grant unto him/her (them), O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him/her (them). May he/she (they) rest in peace. Amen.

 

[Paul S]

The responsory is said after the ninth (or third) lesson at Matins of the Dead. But I'll give it to you anyway.

The Gloria Patri is replaced with the Requiem aeternam after every psalm, both on All Souls' Day and whenever the Office of the Dead is said.

All Souls', by the way, is an odd day liturgically. The Office of the Dead consists of Vespers, Matins, and Lauds, and is said in addition to the Office for the day. Until 1911, November 2 was the second day in the Octave of All Saints, so the Office of the octave was said, with the Office of the Dead added. When the Breviary was revised, the other five Hours were added for All Souls', and nothing is said of the octave (until Vespers of the 2nd, since the Office of the Dead ends with None).

The day has the rank of Double, but excludes all feasts except the highest rank, I Class Doubles. The liturgical colour is black.

In the 1970 rite, it's been bumped up to a Solemnity, and either white or black vestments may be worn - my parish, Deo gratias, uses black.

 

[Paul S]

Here's the full responsory you mentioned:

If only the Third Nocturn for the Dead has been said:
R. Libera me, Domine, de viis inferni, qui portas aereas confregisti, et visitasti infernum, et dedisti eis lumen, ut viderent te. * Qui erant in poenas tenebrarum.
V. Clamantes et dicentes: Advenisti, Redemptor noster.
R. Qui erant in poenas tenebrarum.
V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
R. Qui erant in poenas tenebrarum.

R. Deliver me, O Lord, from the ways of hell, who destroyed the towering gates, and visited hell, and gave them light, that they might see you. * Who wast in the punishments of darkness.
V. Crying and saying: Thou hast come, our Redeemer.
R. Who wast in the punishments of darkness.
V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
R. Who wast in the punishments of darkness.

But if all three Nocturns for the Dead have been said:
R. Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna in die illa tremenda, * Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra, * Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.
V. Tremens factus sum ego et timeo, dum discussio venerit atque ventura ira.
R. Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra.
V. Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et miseriae, dies magna et amara valde.
R. Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.
V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
R. Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna in die illa tremenda, * Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra, * Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.

R. Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death in that fearful day, * When the heavens and the earth shall be shaken, * When Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
V. I am in fear and trembling, until the sifting be upon us and the wrath to come.
R. When the heavens and the earth shall be shaken.
V. That day, the day of wrath, calamity, and misery, the day great and exceeding bitter.
R. When Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
R. Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death in that fearful day, * When the heavens and the earth shall be shaken, * When Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

 

[Paul S]

Next question:

What is a Sequence, how many are used in the Mass, what are they, and when are they used?

 

[Ann M]

Sequence - Roman Catholic Church. A hymn sung between the gradual and the Gospel.


Gradual - Roman Catholic Church

1. The liturgical book containing the chants for the Mass.
2. A biblical text sung between the Epistle and the Gospel of the Mass.



While the texts of the Ordinary do not (with the exception of the Agnus Dei, which is altered in Requiem Mass) change, those which commonly, but somewhat ambiguously, are called the "Proper", change in accordance with the character of the feast or Sunday or ferial day. These texts are the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia-Verse, Sequence, Tract, Offertory, Communion. Not all of these will be found in any one Mass. Thus, e.g. Holy Saturday has no Introit, Gradual, Offertory, Communion; from Low Sunday to Trinity Sunday, the Gradual is replaced by all Alleluia-Verse; from Septuagesima to Easter, as well as on certain penitential days, the Allehlia-Verse which ordinarily follows the Gradual, is replaced by a Tract; in only a few Masses is a Sequence used; there is no Introit on Whitsun Eve, while the customary Gloria Patri after the Introit is omitted during Passion-tide. In Requiem Masses the Gloria Patri is omitted after the Introit, a Tract and a Sequence follow the Gradual. Nor do the texts differ for every feast, as is illustrated by the division of the Sanctorale into the "Proprium de Sanctis" and the "Commune Sanctorum", this latter division grouping the feasts into classes, such as the feasts of confessors-Bishops, confessors-not-bishops, martyrs, virgins, etc., in which the texts of the "Proper" serve for many feasts of the "Propers" in many churches. They are, however, an integral part of the duty of the choir, and must be sung, or at least "recited", in a clear and intelligible voice, the organ meanwhile sustaining appropriate chords.

Where on earth do you get these questions from? Are we educating anyone else out there?

 

[Ann M]

More information for those who are learning along with me:-

The Sequence (Sequentia)–or, more accurately as will be seen further on, the Prose (Prosa)–is the liturgical hymn of the Mass, in which it occurs on festivals between the Gradual and the Gospel, while the hymn, properly so called, belongs to the Breviary. The Sequence differs also in structure and melody from the hymn; for whilst all the strophes of a hymn are always constructed according to the same metre and rhythm and are sung to the same melody as the first strophe, it is the peculiarity of the Sequence, due to its origin, that (at least in those of the first epoch) each strophe or pair of strophes is constructed on a different plan. A sequence usually begins with an independent introductory sentence or an Alleluia (an intonation with its own melody); then follow several pairs of strophes, each pair with its own melody; in the earlier periods the conclusion is uniformly an independent sentence of shorter or longer form. Each pair of strophes is composed of strophe and antistrophe, which exactly agree in their length and the number of their syllables (later also in rhythm and rhyme). The execution was entrusted to two choirs (usually of men and boys, respectively), the strophe being sung by one and the antistrophe by the other to the same melody. Thus, in contrast with the monotony of the hymn, the Sequence shows manifold diversity in outward construction, in melody, and in method of execution. The various transformations which this original plan underwent in the course of the centuries, and according to which we divide sequences into those of the first, the transitional, and the second periods, will be considered in the next paragraph

From Missale Romanum:

(Here the Gradual is sung, while the preparation for the Gospel occurs. The Alleluia, and Sequence - Paschale victimae in the Easter Vigil,
Veni, sancte Spiritus on Pentecost, Lauda Sion on Corpus Christi, Stabat Mater on Our Lady of Sorrows, Dies Irae on All Souls and in Requiem and Funeral Masses follow, except in Lent and in Masses for the dead when the Alleluia is omitted and a Tract sung instead.)


1. Victimæ paschali laudes immolent Christiani.

2a. Agnus redemit oves,
Christiani innocens Patri
reconciliavit
peccatores.

2b. Mors et vita duello
conflixere mirando:
dux vitæ mortuus
regnat vivus.


3a Dic nobis, Maris,
quid vidisti in via?
Sepulchrum Christi viventis
et gloriam vidi resurgentis.

3b. Angelicos testes,
sudarium et vestes.
Surrexit Christus spes mea;
præcedet suos in Galilæa.

4a. Credendum est
magis soli
Mariæ veraci
quam Judæorum
turbæ fallaci.

4b. Scimus Christum
surrexisse
a mortuis vere;
tu nobis, victor,
Rex, miserere.


All this information Paul and I'm still slightly confused!!

 

[Paul S]

Good job on that one.

To shorten it a bit, the Sequence is a hymn sung at Mass between the Gradual and the Gospel. The Gradual in the TLM is like the Gospel Acclamation in the new Mass. They're chanted by the choir after they chant the Gradual.

And, as you mentioned, there's five of these hymns. Pre-Trent, they were used almost all the time, but Trent pared them down to five. The new Mass has four, and they're sadly all optional. Bring back the Sequences!

Here's the five:
Victimae paschali laudes on Easter and throughout the Octave
Veni, Sancte Spiritus on Pentecost and throughout the Octave
Lauda Sion on Corpus Christi and throughout the Octave
Stabat Mater on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15)
Dies Irae on All Souls' Day and at funerals

You may have heard at least one of the stanzas of Lauda Sion:
Ecce panis angelorum (Behold the bread of angels)
Factus cibus viatorum (Made the food of travellers)
Vere panis filiorum (Truly the bread of sons)
Non mittendus canibus (Not to be thrown to dogs)

Dies irae is omitted from the funeral rite in the new Mass, although I have heard the family can request it as an option. It's a slightly gloomy hymn, being about judgment day and the world being judged by fire, but it's very beautiful. The quote in my signature is from Dies irae.