Click here for Part 1: Introduction to the traditional Divine Office.
The Divine Office begins each day with Matins, also historically known as “Vigils” or the “Night Office.” It is traditionally sung during the night. Matins is the longest hour of the Divine Office and is the second most important part of each day's liturgy, next to the Mass. It also follows most closely the form of Jewish synagogue worship. In addition to the psalms that form the core of the Divine Office, Matins also includes readings from Scripture, the writings of Church fathers and saints, and the lives of the saints.
The Divine Office begins each day with Matins, also historically known as “Vigils” or the “Night Office.” It is traditionally sung during the night. Matins is the longest hour of the Divine Office and is the second most important part of each day's liturgy, next to the Mass. It also follows most closely the form of Jewish synagogue worship. In addition to the psalms that form the core of the Divine Office, Matins also includes readings from Scripture, the writings of Church fathers and saints, and the lives of the saints.
After the prayer Aperi
Domine and the Our
Father, Hail Mary, and Apostles' Creed (if they are said), Matins
begins with Psalm 50:17, Psalm 69:2, and the Gloria Patri.
(Italics indicate responses by the choir if there is one.)
Dómine, lábia ✠ mea
apéries. Et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.
Deus
☩ in adjutórium meum inténde.
Dómine, ad
adjuvándum me festína.Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen. Allelúia. |
O Lord, ✠ open thou my
lips. And my mouth shall declare thy praise. O God, ☩ come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia. |
At the verse, “Domine,
labia mea aperies,” we bless our lips with a small Sign of the
Cross made with the thumb. Since these are some of the first words we
say in the day, we pray that everything we say that day may praise
God. When a priest administers the Last Rites to a dying person, he
anoints the person's lips with holy oil, praying that God may forgive
any sins the person may have committed with his use of speech.
At the following verse, “Deus
in adjutórium...” we make the Sign of the Cross in the usual
manner. Since the time of St. Benedict of Nursia, this verse has been
sung at the beginning of every hour of the Divine Office. It is
followed by the Gloria Patri,
or Glory Be,
a short prayer of praise to God that
is familiar to most Catholics.
The Gloria Patri is
used in the Mass as part of the Introit and at
the washing of hands at the Offertory. In the Divine Office, it is
sung at the end of every psalm.
We bow our heads for the
first part of the Gloria Patri.
Afterwards, “alleluia”
is sung. During Septuagesima and Lent, the
word “alleluia”
is never used in liturgy, so it is replaced with, “Praise be to
thee, O Lord, King of eternal glory.” These
opening verses are omitted at the Office for the Dead and the Sacred
Triduum.
Next
is the Invitatory,
an antiphon proper to the day or to the type of feast being
celebrated, sung with Psalm
94. First,
the entire antiphon
is sung twice. After every
other verse of Psalm 94, the entire antiphon
is sung. After the remaining verses of the psalm, only the second
half of the antiphon
is sung. Finally, after
Gloria Patri at the
end, the second half of the antiphon
is sung, followed by the whole antiphon
again. Psalm 94 is a joyful psalm of praise to God. Thus, we always
begin the day's liturgy with praise to God and
by inviting people to “Come, let us praise the Lord with joy.”
At the words, “Come, let us
adore and fall down,” in the third verse, we genuflect.
Whereas many joyful elements of the liturgy are omitted during Lent
or during the Mass and Office for the Dead, the Invitatory is only
omitted during the Sacred Triduum. Here
is the Invitatory for feasts of confessors who are not bishops.
Regem Confessórum
Dóminum, Veníte, adorémus. Regem Confessórum Dóminum, Veníte, adorémus. Veníte, exsultémus Dómino, jubilémus Deo, salutári nostro: præoccupémus fáciem ejus in confessióne, et in psalmis jubilémus ei. Regem Confessórum Dóminum, Veníte, adorémus. Quóniam Deus magnus Dóminus, et Rex magnus super omnes deos, quóniam non repéllet Dóminus plebem suam: quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitúdines móntium ipse cónspicit. Veníte, adorémus. Quóniam ipsíus est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et áridam fundavérunt manus ejus (genuflect) veníte, adorémus, et procidámus ante Deum: plorémus coram Dómino, qui fecit nos, quia ipse est Dóminus, Deus noster; nos autem pópulus ejus, et oves páscuæ ejus. Regem Confessórum Dóminum, Veníte, adorémus. Hódie, si vocem ejus audiéritis, nolíte obduráre corda vestra, sicut in exacerbatióne secúndum diem tentatiónis in desérto: ubi tentavérunt me patres vestri, probavérunt et vidérunt ópera mea. Veníte, adorémus. Quadragínta annis próximus fui generatióni huic, et dixi; Semper hi errant corde, ipsi vero non cognovérunt vias meas: quibus jurávi in ira mea; Si introíbunt in réquiem meam. Regem Confessórum Dóminum, Veníte, adorémus. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen. Veníte, adorémus. Regem Confessórum Dóminum, Veníte, adorémus. |
The Lord, the King of
Confessors, O come, let us worship. The Lord, the King of Confessors, O come, let us worship. Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. The Lord, the King of Confessors, O come, let us worship. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For the Lord will not cast off his people: for in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are his. O come, let us worship. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. (genuflect) Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us: For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. The Lord, the King of Confessors, O come, let us worship. Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts: As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works. O come, let us worship. Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest. The Lord, the King of Confessors, O come, let us worship. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O come, let us worship. The Lord, the King of Confessors, O come, let us worship. |
The Invitatory is followed by
a hymn proper to the season or type of feast. Hymns were first
introduced by St. Ambrose of Milan in the fourth century, but they
were not used in Rome until the thirteenth century. They typically
have a poetic meter but not rhyme. Many great saints wrote hymns that
are now used in the Divine Office, including St. Ambrose, St. Gregory
the Great, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The final verse of each hymn
always gives praise to the Holy Trinity, in a similar fashion to the
Gloria Patri, and like at the
Gloria Patri, we bow
our heads.
Since the fourth century,
Matins has been traditionally divided into three nocturns,
each with a certain number of psalms and readings. This may originate
from the military custom of dividing the night into four night
watches. On less important feasts, there is only one nocturn. For
many centuries, Sunday Matins had eighteen psalms, with twelve in the
first nocturn and three each in the second and third nocturns. Matins
of ferias had just one nocturn of twelve psalms. However, since 1911,
there are always nine psalms at Matins, either three nocturns with
three psalms each, or one nocturn with nine psalms. Traditionally,
Sunday had three nocturns, but in the 1960 Breviary, it has only one
nocturn. In any case, each nocturn always has three readings. Thus,
Matins of three nocturns has nine psalms and nine readings, and
Matins of one nocturn has nine psalms and three readings.
The psalms are appointed for
each day of the week, so that, over the course of a week, all 150
psalms are sung at the Divine Office. Each of the nine psalms at
Matins is either an entire psalm or a portion of a longer psalm. On
first class feasts, the psalms of Sunday are sung, which are of
greater solemnity. On all other days, the psalms are those appointed
for the day of the week. When Matins is sung in choir, the two halves
of the choir sing the verses of the psalm alternately. Gloria
Patri is always sung at the end
of each psalm.
Before and after each psalm,
there is an antiphon proper to the day. Nowadays, antiphons are
always “doubled,” meaning the entire antiphon is sung before and
after the psalm. Until recently, the antiphons were only doubled on
feast days. On other days, including most Sundays, only the first few
words of the antiphon would be sung before the psalm, and the entire
antiphon would be sung after the psalm. In fact, for many centuries,
the main distinction between days on the liturgical calendar was
between “doubles” and “simples,” indicating whether or not
the antiphons should be doubled. Since the psalms are not proper to
the day, the antiphons are the main way that the Church celebrates
the feast of the day at the Divine Office.
After the three or nine
psalms in the nocturn, there is a versicle (a short sentence of
prayer) and response proper to the day. This is followed by the Our
Father, said silently. Once again, the Lord's prayer takes a
prominent place in liturgy. Over the course of the entire day's
liturgy (the entire Divine Office and the Mass), the Our Father may
be said as many as fourteen times. The Our Father is the transition
to the readings, always three at each nocturn. The readings are a
unique feature of Matins, as every other hour of the Divine Office
contains only a very short reading.
After the Our Father at each
nocturn, “Amen” is not said, and it leads into an absolution.
Each nocturn at Matins can be viewed as mirroring the structure of
the Mass of the Catechumens. In the Mass, the Epistle and Gospel are
preceded by prayerful preparation, in which we plead for God's mercy.
Likewise, before we read the readings at Matins, we prayerfully
prepare through the psalms, and we must ask God's mercy. The
absolution forms a sort of elaboration on the end of the Our Father,
similar to the prayer Libera nos at Mass. In any case, we
prepare for the readings by saying the prayer that Jesus taught us
and asking for his mercy.
At Matins of three nocturns,
the three absolutions are as follows.
Exáudi, Dómine Jesu
Christe, preces servórum tuórum, et miserére nobis: Qui cum
Patre et Spíritu Sancto vivis et regnas in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen. Ipsíus píetas et misericórdia nos ádjuvet, qui cum Patre et Spíritu Sancto vivit et regnat in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen. A vínculis peccatórum nostrórum absólvat nos omnípotens et miséricors Dóminus. Amen. |
O Lord Jesus Christ,
graciously hear the prayers of thy servants, and have mercy upon
us, who livest and reignest with the Father, and the Holy Ghost,
ever world without end. Amen.
May his loving-kindness and mercy help us, who liveth and reigneth with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen. May the almighty and merciful Lord loose us from the bonds of our sins. Amen. |
At Matins of one nocturn, the
absolution is one of these three, depending on the day of the week.
To continue the parallel with the Mass, before the Gospel at Mass,
the deacon receives the priest's blessing. Likewise, at Matins, each
reading is preceded by a blessing. If Matins is sung in choir and
there is a priest present, nine lectors are appointed to sing the
readings, and each receives the priest's blessing. Otherwise, the one
offering Matins reads each blessing himself. At Matins of three
nocturns, the nine blessings are as follows. The eighth blessing is
different depending on if it is a feast of our Lord, of our Lady, or
a saint.
First Nocturn 1. Benedictióne perpétua benedícat nos Pater ætérnus. Amen. 2. Unigénitus Dei Fílius nos benedícere et adjuváre dignétur. Amen. 3. Spíritus Sancti grátia illúminet sensus et corda nostra. Amen. Second Nocturn 4. Deus Pater omnípotens sit nobis propítius et clemens. Amen. 5. Christus perpétuæ det nobis gáudia vitæ. Amen. 6. Ignem sui amóris accéndat Deus in córdibus nostris. Amen. Third Nocturn
7.
Evangélica léctio sit nobis salus et protéctio. Amen.
8.
Divínum auxílium máneat semper nobíscum. Amen.
or
Cujus festum cólimus, ipse intercédat pro nobis ad Dóminum.
Amen.
or
Cujus festum cólimus, ipsa Virgo vírginum intercédat pro nobis
ad Dóminum. Amen.
9.
Ad societátem cívium supernórum perdúcat nos Rex Angelórum.
Amen.
|
First Nocturn 1. May the eternal Father bless us with an eternal blessing. Amen. 2. May the only-begotten Son of God mercifully bless and keep us. Amen. 3. May the grace of the Holy Spirit enlighten our hearts and minds. Amen. Second Nocturn 4. May God the almighty Father be merciful and clement to us. Amen. 5. May Christ always give us the joys of life. Amen. 6. May God kindle in our hearts the fire of his love. Amen. Third Nocturn
7.
May the Gospel's holy lection be our safety and protection. Amen.
8.
May the divine assistance remain always with us. Amen.
9.
May the King of Angels lead us to that high realm. Amen.
|
Notice how the blessings of
the first two nocturns have a trinitarian form, asking the blessing
first of the Father, then of the Son, then of the Holy Spirit. In
Matins of one nocturn, the blessings depend on the day of the week.
In Matins of three nocturns,
the readings of the first nocturn are always from Sacred Scripture.
Except on first class feasts, they are always from the scripture
appointed for the proper of the time. Thus, the Church never neglects
the season nor her saints. In the second and third nocturns, the
readings may be from the life of the saint celebrated that day and
from the writings of Church fathers. This is a direct continuation of
the tradition of the apostles and early Christians. Before St. Jerome
compiled the Holy Bible in the fourth century, Christian worship
included readings from the Jewish scripture, the writings of the
apostles and Church fathers, and the lives of saints.
Before 1960, when Sunday
Matins had three nocturns, the readings of the third nocturn were
always from a homily by a saint on the Gospel of the Mass. This
originates from the Benedictine custom of reading the Gospel of the
Mass at Matins. In the 1960 Breviary, Sunday Matins has only one
nocturn, so the first two readings are from scripture, and the third
reading is from a homily. On other days with only one nocturn at
Matins, at least the first reading is always from scripture.
Each reading is concluded
with a plea for God's mercy, followed by the response “Deo
gratias,” the same response made after the Epistle at Mass.
Tu autem, Dómine,
miserére nobis. Deo grátias. |
But thou, O Lord, have
mercy upon us. Thanks be to God. |
After each reading is a
responsory, with a response being repeated by the choir
between verses of psalms or other scripture. It may or may not
contain the first half of Gloria Patri.
Like the psalms and lessons, the responsories are a very ancient part
of the Office. They can be compared in form to the Introit or Gradual
at Mass. Like the readings, the responsories are proper to the day.
At Mass, the Gloria is sung
on days of a joyful nature. At the Divine Office, the hymn Te
Deum is sung at Matins whenever the Gloria is sung at Mass.
It is also known as the “Ambrosian Hymn” or the “Hymn of Saints
Ambrose and Augustine,” because it was written in the fourth
century by St. Ambrose of Milan and St. Augustine of Hippo on the
occasion of the latter's baptism. Next to the Gloria, it is the
Church's second greatest hymn of praise. When it is sung at Matins,
it takes the place of the responsory after the last reading. It is
also sung on certain extraordinary occasions, such as the election of
a pope, the canonization of a saint, or the coronation of a Catholic
monarch.
Te Deum laudámus: te
Dominum confitémur. Te ætérnum Patrem omnis terra venerátur. Tibi omnes Angeli; tibi cæli et univérsae potestátes. Tibi Chérubim et Séraphim incessábili voce proclámant: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dóminus Deus Sábaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra majestátis glóriæ tuæ. Te gloriósus Apostolórum chorus; Te Prophetárum laudábilis númerus; Te Mártyrum candidátus laudat exércitus. Te per orbem terrárum sancta confitétur Ecclésia: Patrem imménsæ majestátis; Venerándum tuum verum et únicum Fílium; Sanctum quoque Paráclitum Spíritum. Tu Rex glóriæ, Christe. Tu Patris sempitérnus es Fílius. Tu ad liberándum susceptúrus hóminem, non horruísti Vírginis úterum. Tu, devícto mortis acúleo, aperuísti credéntibus regna cælórum. Tu ad déxteram Dei sedes, in glória Patris. Judex créderis esse ventúrus. Te ergo quǽsumus, tuis fámulis súbveni, quos pretióso sánguine redemísti. Ætérna fac cum sanctis tuis in glória numerári. Salvum fac pópulum tuum, Dómine, et bénedic hæreditáti tuæ. Et rege eos, et extólle illos usque in ætérnum. Per síngulos dies benedícimus te. Et laudámus nomen tuum in sǽculum, et in sǽculum sǽculi. Dignáre, Dómine, die isto sine peccáto nos custodíre. Miserére nostri, Dómine, miserére nostri. Fiat misericórdia tua, Dómine, super nos, quemádmodum sperávimus in te. In te, Dómine, sperávi: non confúndar in ætérnum. |
We praise thee, O God:
we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud: the heavens, and all the powers therein. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory. The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee. The noble army of Martyrs praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee: The Father of an infinite Majesty; Thine honourable, true and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy Precious Blood. Make them to be numbered with thy Saints in glory everlasting. O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage. Govern them and lift them up for ever. Day by day we magnify thee. And we worship thy Name, ever world without end. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin. O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us. O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee. O Lord, in thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded. |
The Te Deum roughly
follows the structure of the Apostles' Creed, praising each of the
core tenets of the Christian faith – the Incarnation, the Passion,
the Resurrection, and the Second Coming of Christ. Towards the
beginning, there is a quote of the Sanctus from the Mass, the angels'
eternal hymn of adoration. Like at the Mass, we bow our heads at the
words, “Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus...” At the verse, “Tu ad
liberandum...” praising the Incarnation, we make a profound bow,
similar to how we kneel when the Incarnation is mentioned in the
Nicene Creed and the Last Gospel at Mass. At the verse, “Te ergo
quaesumus...” we kneel as we plead for God's help. Finally,
at the verse, “Et laudamus nomen...” we bow in adoration of the
Holy Name of Jesus.
If
Matins and Lauds are offered together, as they commonly are, then
Matins ends here, and we proceed with the beginning of Lauds,
starting with the verse,
“Deus in adjutórium...”
If, however, Matins is offered alone, there is a short conclusion. If
Matins is offered in choir led by a priest or
deacon, the priest sings the
greeting, “Dominus vobiscum,” like at Mass, with its usual
response. However, since only a priest offers this greeting, anyone
else offering the Divine Office (or a priest offering the Divine
Office alone) replaces it with the
following verse.
Dómine, exáudi
oratiónem meam. Et clamor meus ad te véniat. |
O Lord, hear my prayer. And let my cry come unto thee. |
This
verse comes from Psalm 101:2 and is also found in the Prayers at the
Foot of the Altar at Mass. The collect for the Mass of the Day is
then sung. This collect is sung at every hour of the Divine Office
except Prime and Compline. Since the entire Divine Office is a
supplement to the Mass of the day, it is fitting that the Divine
Office be connected to the Mass in this way. Commemorations
are not made at Matins, only at Lauds and Vespers.
After
the collect, Matins is concluded with the dismissal, “Benedicamus
Domino,” which is used at Mass when another ceremony is to follow,
or traditionally on penitential occasions when we want to stay and
keep watch longer with Christ. This is followed by a short prayer for
the souls in purgatory, for whom the Church always offers her
prayers. As mentioned
before, anyone
who is not a priest replaces “Dominus vobiscum” with “Domine,
exaudi orationem meam.”
Dóminus vobíscum. Et cum spíritu tuo. Benedicámus Dómino. Deo grátias. Fidélium ánimæ per misericórdiam Dei requiéscant in pace. Amen. |
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit.
Let
us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
May
the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in
peace.
Amen. |
Finally,
on a self-referential note, the texts from Matins included in this
article are the ones that remain
the same every day. However, unlike
the Mass, the most important parts of Matins are different every day,
and thus cannot be included here. The psalms and readings form the
core of the hour of Matins.
New
terms
-
Gloria Patri or Glory Be – A short prayer giving praise to the Holy Trinity, sung at the end of every psalm.
-
Invitatory – Psalm 94 and its antiphon, which are sung at the beginning of Matins every day except during the Sacred Triduum.
-
nocturns – The parts into which Matins is traditionally divided, each consisting of a certain number of psalms and readings. Matins may consist of three nocturns or one nocturn.
- responsory – Verses from psalms or other scripture, including a response that is repeated after each verse, sung after each reading.
-
Te Deum – A great hymn of praise to God sung at Matins whenever the Gloria is sung at Mass.
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