Trivia Thread

[Paul S]

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

I just think of odd liturgical facts.

There's all sorts of possible little changes in the Office, especially at Matins. You'd probably never find the answers to most of them, so I won't ask anything too odd.

I'll try one a bit harder this time.

When and why is the phrase "et reliqua" used in the Office?

 

[Ann M]

"et reliqua" = and remainder

The arrangement of Matins is this: On feriæ and simple feasts there is only one nocturn with its three lessons. On feriæ all three are from the scriptura occurrens: on simples the third lesson is an account of the saint instead of the Scriptural one. The exception is when a feria has its own Mass. Such are the days that were originally liturgical days -- week-days in Lent, ember-days, and vigils. In this case the lessons consist of the fragment of the Gospel with a homily as in the third nocturn of semi-doubles. On semi-doubles and all higher feasts (Sundays are semi-doubles) there are three nocturns, each with three lessons. Such days are the festa novem lectionum. The first nocturn has always Scriptural lessons -- those of the scriptura occurrens, or on special feasts, a text chosen for its suitability. The second nocturn has lessons from a Father of the Church, here called sermo, a life of the saint on his feast, or a description of the event of the day. Thus, for instance, St. Peter's Chains (1 August) tells the story of their finding and how they came to Rome; S. Maria ***. Auxilium Christianorum (24 May) in the sixth lesson tells "ex publicis monumentis" the story of the battle of Lepanto. Sometimes papal Bulls are read in the second nocturn, as the Bull of Pius IX (Ineffabilis Deus) during the Octave of the Immaculate Conception (8 December). The second nocturn continually receives new lessons, written by various people and approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Many of the older ones are taken from the "Liber Pontificalis". The third nocturn has for its lessons first a fragment (the first clause) of the Gospel read at Mass followed by the words, et reliqua, then a sermon (cabled Homilia) of a Father explaining it through the three lessons (the 7th, 8th, and 9th). In cases of concurrence of feasts, the feast commemorated (or the feria, if it be a liturgical day) has its own lesson (the life of the saint, or Gospel-fragment, and homily) read as the ninth lesson.

So I guess it is said as an introduction to the Homily explaining the Gospel reading?

 

[Paul S]

You found that one pretty quickly.

One of the Nocturns at Matins is usually a homily on the day's Gospel reading. Since the entire reading will be heard at Mass, only the first bit is read at Matins, followed by the homily.

Here's today's first lesson, for Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent. Since today is a feria, there's only three lessons. The second and third are a continuation of the homily. After each lesson, a brief respond is said, such as the Libera me for the Office of the Dead. This week, the responds are from the Book of Genesis, since the Third Week of Lent is the story of Joseph and his brothers.

Léctio sancti Evangelii secúndum Matthæum (18:15-22)
In illo témpore : Dixit Jesus discipulis suis : Si peccaverit in te frater tuus, vade, et corripe eum inter te et ipsum solum. Et réliqua.

Homília sancti Augustini Episcopi
Quare illum córripis? Quia tu doles, quod peccaverit in te? Absit. Si amore tui id facis, nihil facis : si amore illíus facis, optime facis. Dénique in ipsis verbis attende, cujus amore id fácere debeas, utrum tui, an illíus. Si te audíerit, inquit, lucrátus es fratrem tuum. Ergo propter illum fac, ut lucréris illum. Sic faciéndo lucraris : nisi fecisses, períerat. Quid est ergo, quod plerique hómines ista peccáta contemnunt, et dic unt: Quid magnum feci? In hóminem peccávi. Noli comtemnere : in hóminem peccasti.

V. Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis.
R. Deo gratias.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
At that time : Jesus said unto his disciples : If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. And so on, and that which followeth.

A Homily by St. Augustine the Bishop
Why tell him his fault? Is it because he hath made thee to smart by trespassing against thee? God forbid. For if out of love for thyself thou dost tell him his fault, thou hast done nothing of any worth. But if only out of love for him, thou dost tell him his fault, then thou hast done exceedingly well. Hear now, from the very words of the Gospel, for whose sake thou oughtest to do this thing, whether from love of thyself, or from love of him. The Lord saith : If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Wherefore charge theyself always to do such a thing rather for his sake than for thine own, to the end that thou mayest gain him. If thou doest this thing on this wise, perchance thou mayest attain this great end, to wit, of gaining him. Whereas, if thou doest otherwise, perchance, he may perish. Why then are there so many who do reckon but lightly such a trespass against their brother, and say : I have done no great offence, for I have sinned only against my fellow-man? Deem it not a light offence. For thou hast surely sinned in that thou hast sinned against thy fellow-man.

V. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
R. Thanks be to God.

 

[Paul S]

What psalm is said at Prime on Fridays, and why is this psalm appropriate for Friday?

 

[Ann M]

Friday Prime

The first part of Prime is in the Ordinary

In Ferial Office during Lent, the Antiphon is as in the Ordinary

COMMENTARY
Ant. Ne discédas a me. Ant. O go not from me, Lord.

Psalmus 21. i. Deus, Deus meus

Deus, Deus meus, respice in me : quare me dereliquísti? * longe a salúte mea verba delictórum meórum.
2 Deus meus, clamábo per diem, et non exáudies: * et nocte, et non ad insipiéntiam mihi.
3 Tu autem in sancto hábitas: * laus Israël.
4 In te speravérunt patres nostri: * speravérunt, et liberásti eos.
5 Ad te clamavérunt, et salvi facti sunt: * in te speravérunt, et non sunt confúsi.
6 Ego autem sum vermis, et non homo: * oppróbrium hóminum, et abjéctio plebis.
7 Omnes vidéntes me derisérunt me: * locúti sunt lábiis, et movérunt caput.
8 Sperávit in Dómino, erípiat eum: * salvum fáciat eum, quóniam vult eum.
9 Quóniam tu es, qui extraxísti me de ventre: * spes mea ab ubéribus matris meæ. In te projéctus sum ex útero.
10 De ventre matris meæ Deus meus es tu, * ne discésseris a me :
11 Quóniam tribulátio próxima est: * quóniam non est qui ádjuvet.


Psalm 21. i. Deus, Deus meus

MY God, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me? * and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint?
2 O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; * and in the night season also I take no rest.
3 And thou continuest holy, * O thou Worship of Israel.
4 Our fathers hoped in thee; * they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They called upon thee, and were holpen; * they put their trust in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But as for me, I am a worm, and no man; * a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn; * they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, saying,
8 He trusted in the LORD, that he would deliver him; * let him deliver him, if he will have him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb; * thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother's breasts.
10 I have been left unto thee ever since I was born; * thou art my God even from my mother's womb.
11 O go not from me; for trouble is hard at hand, * and there is none to help me.

Psalmus 21. ii. Circumdedérunt me

12 Circumdedérunt me vítuli multi: * tauri pingues obsedérunt me.
13 Aperuérunt super me os suum: * sicut leo rápiens et rúgiens.
14 Sicut aqua effúsus sum: * et dispérsa sunt ómnia ossa mea.
15 Factum est cor meum tamquam cera liquéscens: * in médio ventris mei.
16 Aruit tamquam testa virtus mea, et lingua mea adhæsit fáucibus meis: * et in púlverem mortis deduxísti me.
17 Quóniam circumdedérunt me canes multi: * concílium malignántium obsédit me.
18 Fodérunt manus meas et pedes meos: * dinumeravérunt ómnia ossa mea.
19 Ipsi vero consideravérunt et inspexérunt me: * divisérunt sibi vestiménta mea, et super vestem meam misérunt sortem.
20 Tu autem, Dómine, ne elongáveris auxílium tuum a me: * ad defensiónem meam cónspice.
21 Erue a frámea, Deus, ánimam meam: * et de manu canis únicam meam.
22 Salva me ex ore leónis: * et a córnibus unicórnium humilitátem meam.
23 Narrábo nomen tuum frátribus meis: * in médio Ecclésiæ laudábo te.


Psalm 21. ii. Circumdedérunt me

12 Many oxen are come about me; * fat bulls of Bashan close me in on every side.
13 They gape upon me with their mouths, * as it were a ramping and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; * my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my gums, * and thou bringest me into the dust of death.
16 For many dogs are come about me, * and the council of the wicked layeth siege against me.
17 They pierced my hands and my feet: I may tell all my bones: * they stand staring and looking upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, * and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD; * thou art my succour, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, * my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion's mouth; * thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare thy Name unto my brethren; * in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Psalmus 21. iii. Qui timétis Dóminum

24 Qui timétis Dóminum, laudáte eum: * univérsum sperm Jacob, glorificáte eum.
25 Tímeat eum omne sperm Israël: * quóniam non sprevit, neque despéxit deprecatiónem páuperis :
26 Nec avértit fáciem suam a me: * et cum clamárem ad eum, exaudívit me.
27 Apud te laus mea in ecclésia magna: * vota mea reddam in conspéctu timéntium eum.
28 Edent páuperes, et saturabúntur: et laudabunt Dóminum qui requírunt eum: * vivent corda eórum in sæculum sæculi.
29 Reminiscéntur et converténtur ad Dóminum * univérsi fines terræ :
30 Et adorábunt in conspéctu ejus * univérsæ famíliæ Géntium.
31 Quóniam Dómini est regnum: * et ipse dominábitur Géntium.
32 Manducavérunt et adoravérunt omnes pingues terræ: * in conspéctu ejus cadent omnes qui descéndunt in terram.
33 Et ánima mea illi vivet: * et sperm meum sérviet ipsi.
34 Annuntiábitur Dómino generátio ventúra: * et annuntiábunt cæli justítiam ejus pópulo qui nascétur, quem fecit Dóminus.


Psalm 21. iii. Qui timétis Dóminum

23 O praise the LORD, ye that fear him: * magnify him, all ye of the seed of Jacob; and fear him, all ye seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the low estate of the poor; * he hath not hid his face from him; but when he called unto him he heard him.
25 My praise is of thee in the great congregation; * my vows will I perform in the sight of them that fear him.
26 The poor shall eat, and be satisfied; they that seek after the LORD shall praise him: * your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember themselves, and be turned unto the LORD; * and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD'S, * and he is the Governor among the nations.
29 All such as be fat upon earth * have eaten, and worshipped.
30 All they that go down into the dust shall kneel before him; * and no man hath quickened his own soul.
31 My seed shall serve him: * they shall be counted unto the Lord for a generation.
32 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness * unto a people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made.

After the three foregoing Psalms have been recited, at once the Antiphon is said as given below, unless at Lauds Psalm 50, Miserére mei, was said, in which case here is added to Prime the omitted first Psalm of Lauds; and the same is done likewise on other weekdays.

Psalmus 98. Dóminus regnávit

Dóminus regnávit, irascántur pópuli: * qui sedet super Chérubim, moveátur terra.
2 Dóminus in Sion magnus: * et excélsus super omnes pópulos.
3 (fit reveréntia) Confiteántur nómini tuo magno : quóniam terribile, et sanctum est : * et honor regis judícium díligit.
4 Tu parásti directiónes: * judícium et justítiam in Jacob tu fecísti.
5 Exaltate Dóminum Deum nostrum, et adoráte scabellum pedum ejus: * quóniam sanctum est.
6 Moyses et Aaron in sacerdotibus ejus: * et Samuel inter eos, qui invocant nomen ejus:
7 Invocábant Dóminum, et ipse exaudiébat eos: * in columna nubis loquebátur ad eos.
8 Custodiébant testimónia ejus: * et præcéptum quod dedit illis.
9 Dómine, Deus noster, tu exaudiébas eos: * Deus, tu propitius fuísti eis, et ulciscens in omnes adinventiónes eórum.
10 Exaltate Dóminum Deum nostrum, et adoráte in monte sancto ejus: * quóniam sanctus Dóminus Deus noster.


Psalm 98. Dóminus regnávit

THE LORD is King, be the people never so impatient; * he sitteth between the Cherubim, be the earth never so unquiet.
2 The LORD is great in Sion, * and high above all people.
3 (all bow) They shall give thanks unto thy Name, * which is great, wonderful, and holy.
4 The King's power loveth judgment; thou hast prepared equity, * thou hast executed judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
5 O magnify the LORD our God, and fall down before his footstool; * for he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among such as call upon his Name: * these called upon the LORD, and he heard them.
7 He spake unto them out of the cloudy pillar; * for they kept his testimonies, and the law that he gave them.
8 Thou heardest them, O LORD our God; * thou forgavest them, O God, though thou didst punish their wicked doings.
9 O magnify the LORD our God, and worship him upon his holy hill; * for the LORD our God is holy.

In Ferial Office during Lent, the Antiphon is as in the Ordinary

Ant. Ne discédas a me, Dómine : quóniam tribulátio próxima est : quóniam non est qui ádjuvet.


Ant. O go not from me, Lord, for trouble is hard at hand, * and there is none to help me.

I came across this passage in my wanderings:-

In order to keep up this devotion and restoration of manners, Father Barzeo instituted a procession of flagellants, who every Friday assembled in the church, singing the litanies and listening to a sermon on the words of the Psalmist: "Multa flagella peccatoris". At the end of the sermon there was a period of silence, during which each penitent meditated on his past life. The preacher then spoke for another half hour on some passage from the Passion of Christ, after which a crucifix was displayed to the people, who shed abundant tears and scourged themselves.

Friday is the day of Penance? During Lent we give up meat on a Friday, but I also seem to have come across other information saying that if we eat meat on ANY Friday we should offer penance in some other way.

 

[Ann M]

You realise, Paul, that I have never learnt Latin, or even gone to a Latin Mass?

I am floundering slowly in this but am learning so much! Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.

 

[Paul S]

You realise, Paul, that I have never learnt Latin, or even gone to a Latin Mass?

I am floundering slowly in this but am learning so much! Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.

You should go sometime, if there's one near you. I'm glad you're learning something and like the questions.

You found both psalms which can possibly be said at Friday Prime, although Psalm 98 is only said on purple days - ferias of Advent and Lent, and Vigils - when it is replaced at Lauds by the Miserere, Psalm 50. On these days, the first psalm at Lauds is then bumped to Prime.

Normally, only Psalm 21 is said. But what makes this psalm appropriate for Friday?

Friday is the day of Penance? During Lent we give up meat on a Friday, but I also seem to have come across other information saying that if we eat meat on ANY Friday we should offer penance in some other way.

Canon Law requires us to abstain from meat, unless the national bishops' conference decree another penance. In the US, we may substitute some other penance, except during Lent when we must abstain. I don't know what the rules for Australia are, and I found no mention of "meat" on the ACBC website.

 

[Paul S]

Most of the questions so far have been about the liturgy. I'll try a different one this time.

Who is St. Prisca, when is her feast day, and how old was she when she died?

 

[Ann M]

A maytr whose grave was found in the roman Catacombs.

She may been the friend of St Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Romans, or possibly she was beheaded at the tenth milestone on the Via Ostiensis, and whose body Pope Eutychianus is said to have translated to the church of Prisca on the Aventine.

But according to her acta, which were not written until the 10th century, Prisca was a 13-year-old girl who was exposed in the amphitheatre and, to the amazement of all, the fierce lion was loosed upon her, licked her feet. She was therefore returned to prison and beheaded. An eagle watched over her body until it was buried in the catacomb of Priscilla, where a church has been dedicated as titulus Aquilae et Priscae on the Aventine hill since at least the 4th century.

Her feast day is January 18.

 

[Paul S]

That one was easy enough.

I had never heard of St. Prisca until this year, when I was at Mass for her feast day. Before 1962, January 18 was the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Rome, but in the 1962 calendar, this feast was dropped and combined with the February 22 feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Antioch. St. Prisca then got bumped up from a commemoration to a III Class Feast.

I think it's quite inspiring that a 13-year-old girl, like St. Agnes and St. Maria Goretti, would have the courage to stand up for her faith in the face of death.

Here's what the Breviary says about her, at Matins:

Prisca was a noble Roman maiden, who at thirteen years of age was accused of Christianity before the Emperor Claudius. By his command she was taken to the temple of Apollo to sacrifice there, and when she refused, was buffeted and sent to prison. She was taken out from thence again, but as she still held stedfastly to the faith, they flogged her, poured boiling tallow upon her, and sent her back a second time. She was at last thrown to a lion in the amphitheatre, but it quietly lay down at her feet. She was starved for three days in a slaves' prison house, and then tortured upon the rack. Pieces of flesh were next torn from her body with iron hooks, and she was thrown on a burning pile. She marvellously still remained alive, and was accordingly beheaded outside the city. Thus she added the crown of martyrdom to the palm of virginity. The Christians buried her body at the tenth milestone on the road from Rome to Ostia on the eighteenth of January.

Oremus.
Da, quæsumus, omnípotens Deus : ut qui beátæ Priscæ Vírginis et Mártyris tuæ natalítia colimus, et annua solemnitate lætemur, et tantæ fidei proficiámus exemplo. Per Dóminum.

Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God : that we, who this day observe the heavenly birthday of blessed Prisca thy Virgin and Martyr ; may in such wise rejoice in her yearly festival, that we may learn to follow rightly the pattern of her faith. Through.

 

[Paul S]

Another saint this time.

Who is St. Anastasia, when is her feast day, and what are the two places in the Mass where she is mentioned?

 

[Paul S]

<bump>

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Paul,

How did you come to know all of this? Did you grow up going to the TLM, were your parents TLM Catholics? I am impressed. All of this is foreign to me, and I don't want it to be.

 

[Paul S]

How did you come to know all of this? Did you grow up going to the TLM, were your parents TLM Catholics? I am impressed. All of this is foreign to me, and I don't want it to be.

Until a couple years ago, the only thing I knew about the pre-Vatican II Mass was that it was in Latin and the priest had his back to us. I know better now. I'm not even sure I really got the idea of the Mass as a sacrifice. I believed in the Real Presence, but Eucharistic Prayer II always gave me the idea that we're re-enacting Maundy Thursday, not Good Friday. Eucharistic Prayer I, of course, was the really long one that I hoped the priest wouldn't use, because it made Mass longer. Now, I'm always hoping for the words, "We come to you, Father...".

Much of what I've learned has come from figuring out the Office. Obviously, that includes the rubrics, but going through it, I read the lessons from Matins about the lives of the saints and how the liturgy changes with the seasons of the ecclesiastical year.

I know a lot of the questions in this thread might seem a bit picky, but I hope you've been able to learn something about the liturgy and all the richness of it.

Feel free to answer the question about St. Anastasia.

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

St. Anastasia was a martyr, probably during the time of the Diocletian persecution. She was beheaded on the island of Palmaria on December 25th, therefore her feast day is on Christmas Day and her feast is celebrated during the 2nd Mass of Christmas Day.

I have no idea where she is in the canon of the Mass.

 

[Paul S]

Correct, even on the last part. I'm feeling nice, so I'll give it to you.

Her feast day is on Christmas, December 25, and a commemoration is made of her only in the second Mass, the Mass at Dawn, on Christmas Day.

She is mentioned in the canon of the Mass (or Eucharistic Prayer I), following the Memento for the dead, along with other saints and martyrs.

Here's what the Martyrology says about St. Anastasia, and her Collect:

The same day, the birthday of St. Anastasia, who, in the time of Diocletian, first suffered a severe and harsh imprisonment on the part of her husband Publius, in which, however, she was much consoled and encouraged by the confessor of Christ, Chrysogonus. Afterwards she was thrown into prison again by order of Florus, prefect of Illyria; and finally, having her hands and feet stretched, she was tied to stakes with a fire kindled about her, in the midst of which she ended her martyrdom on the island of Palmária, whither she had been brought with two hundred men and seventy women, who have made martyrdom a glorious thing by the various kinds of death they so valiantly endured.

Oremus. Da, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, qui beatae Anastasiae Martyris tuae solemnia colimus, ejus apud te patrocinia sentiamus. Per Dominum.

Let us pray. Grant, we beseech, almighty God: that we who celebrate the festival of thy blessed Martyr Anastsia, may feel the effects of her patronage before thee. Through our Lord.

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Paul,

Is what you posted directly out of the Office?

 

[Paul S]

And relating to St. Anastasia, what is a commemoration and how is it done, in both the Mass and Office?

 

[Ann M]

So who exactly is the 'Anastasia' mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass [Eucharistic Prayer 1] and who exactly is honoured in the church of St. Anastasia in Rome are enigmas you must contemplate as you munch your Christmas sprouts.

 

[Paul S]

Paul,

Is what you posted directly out of the Office?

Technically, no, since no Commemoration is made of St. Anastasia in the Office, only at Mass, so her collect does not appear in the Breviary but only in the Missal.

The Martyrology, while read at Prime, is a separate liturgical book and its reading can be omitted in private recitation, although I read it anyway.

So who exactly is the 'Anastasia' mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass [Eucharistic Prayer 1] and who exactly is honoured in the church of St. Anastasia in Rome are enigmas you must contemplate as you munch your Christmas sprouts.

Same saint.

But hold that thought, because that question's coming later.