The Octave of All Saints

XXI Sunday after Pentecost - Sunday within the Octave of All Saints

The twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost is of semi-double rite and its liturgical colour, from Mattins this year, is green. This year it is also the first Sunday of November and the Sunday within the Octave of All Saints. The Gospel pericopes from St. Matthew contain the parable of the unjust and ungrateful servant who, forgiven his debts by the King, demands what is owed to him from others and shews complete ingratitude. All Soul's Day is tranferred to Monday.

Yesterday afternoon second Vespers of the feast of All Saints were sung. The antiphons Vidi turbam magnam etc were sung with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 & 115. The Office hymn was Placare, Christe, servulis. After the collect of the feast a commemoration was sung of the Sunday (the antiphon on the Magnificat being Vidi Dominum for the Saturday before the first Sunday of November). At Compline the Dominical psalms were sung and the Dominical preces are omitted.

At Mattins the invitatory is Adoremus Dominum and the Office hymn is Primo die. In the first nocturn the lessons are from the Incipit of the book of Ezechiel. In the second nocturn the lessons are from an exposition of St. Gregory on Ezechiel. In the third nocturn the homily is from St. Jerome on the eighteenth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the Office hymn is Aeterne. After the collect of the Sunday, a commemoration is sung of the octave of All Saints. The Suffrage is omitted being within an Octave.

At Prime, Pss. 117, 118(i) & 118(ii) both Quicumque and the Dominical preces are omitted.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Octave. Being a Sunday within an Octave there is no third collect. The Creed and the preface of the Blessed Trinity are sung.

Vespers are of the Sunday, Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 113 and the Office hymn is Lucis creator. After the collect of the Sunday a commemoration is sung of the Octave. After Benedicamus Domino and its response the verse Fidelium is omitted and the choir sits as the green of the Sunday is removed and is exchanged for the black of mourning. Vespers of the Dead are then sung in choir beginning with the antiphon Placebo Domino in regione vivorum. Psalms 114, 119, 120, 129 and 127 are sung, Requiem aeternametc is sung at the end of each psalm in place of Gloria Patri etc. After the psalms there is a versicle and response but no hymn. After the antiphon on the Magnificat the choir kneels for a Pater noster, some versicles and the collect. Following the 1911-13 reform Compline takes a special form, 'Compline of the Dead', with psalms 122, 141 and 142.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Octave of All Saints has been abolished. At Vespers there were no commemorations. Mattins is cut down to a single nocturn of three lessons. At Lauds there are no commemorations. At Mass there is but a single collect. At Vespers are of the Sunday there are no commemorations. Vespers of the Dead are sung in the afternoon of All Soul's Day.

Art: Jerome Nadal

The fifth week of October

Christ The King

The feast of Christ the King is a Double of the First Class and its liturgical colour is white. This year it is also the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost and the fifth Sunday of October.  The Sunday is commemorated in the Office and at Mass. The simple rank feast of St. Evaristus is omitted in the Universal Kalendar this year.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons Pacificus etc were sung, doubled, with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The Office hymn was Te saeculorum Principem. After the collect of the feast a commemoration of the Sunday was sung (the antiphon on the Magnificat being Tua est potentia for the Saturday before the fifth Sunday of October. The Suffrage was omitted. At Compline the Dominical psalms were sung and Te lucis was sung with the Doxology Jesu, tibi sit gloria, Qui sceptra mundi temperas, Cum Patre et almo Spiritu, In sempiterna saecula. The Dominical preces were omitted.

At Mattins the invitatory is Jesum Christum, Regem regum Venite adoremus and the Office hymn Aeterna Imagao Altissimi. In the first nocturn the antiphons Ego autem etc are sung, doubled, with Pss.2, 8 & 23. The lessons are taken from St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians. In the second nocturn the antiphons Sedebit etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 28, 44 & 46. The lessons are taken from Pius XI's encyclical Quas primas. In the third nocturn the antiphons Benedicentur in ipso are sung, doubled, with Pss. 71, 88(i), 88(ii). The homily on St. John's Gospel is taken from the writings of St. Augustine. The ninth lesson is the homily appointed for the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, a homily from St. Gregory on St. John's Gospel. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the antiphons Suscitabit etc are sung, doubled, with the Dominical psalms. The Office hymn is Vexilla Christus inclyta. After the collect of the feast a commemoration of the Sunday is sung.

At Prime and the Hours the antiphons Suscitabit etc are sung with the festal psalms, at Prime Pss. 53, 118(i) & 118(ii). The Doxology Jesu, tibi sit gloria etc is sung with the hymns of the Hours. At Prime the versicle in the short responsory is Qui primatum in omnibus tenes and the lectio brevis In ipso.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Sunday and the Creed is sung. The preface is proper to the feast and the last Gospel is of the Sunday.

At Vespers all is sung as at first Vespers except the versicle & response and the antiphon on the Magnificat which are proper to second Vespers. After the collect of the feast a commemoration of the Sunday is sung.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' at Vespers there was no commemoration of the Sunday. At Compline Te lucis was sung with the ordinary Doxology. At Mattins in the third nocturn, the third psalm (Ps. 88ii) gets stripped of over half its verses. Verses Tu vero repulisti... to Benedictus Dominus in aeternam, fiat, fiat, 39 - 53, are omitted. The former eighth lesson is split into two to provide an eighth and ninth lesson as the homily of the Sunday is omitted. At Lauds there is no commemoration of the Sunday. At Prime and the Hours the Doxology for the feast is omitted. At Prime the lectio brevis is of the season. At Mass there is no commemoration of the Sunday and the last Gospel is In principio. At Vespers there are no commemorations.

Image: Christ as Pantocrator from the apse of the magnificent Cathedral of Monreale.

The fourth week of October

XIX Sunday after Pentecost - Mission Sunday

The nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost is of semi-double rite and its liturgical colour, from Mattins this year, is green. This year it is the fourth Sunday of October and Mission Sunday. At the request of the Superior Council of the Pontifical Work for the Propagation of the Faith the Sacred Congregation of Rites directed in 1926 that the prayer, from the Votive Mass Pro Propagatione Fidei, be added to all Masses today as an oratio imperata pro re gravi. The Gospel pericopes contain the parable of the wedding feast from St. Matthew's Gospel with the sobering concluding words of the LORD Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.

Yesterday afternoon second Vespers of the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist were sung. The antiphons Juravit Dominus etc were sung, doubled, with psalms 109, 112, 115, 125 & 138. The Office hymn was Exsultet orbis gaudiis. After the collect of the feast commemorations were sung of the Sunday, (the antiphon on the Magnifcat being Exaudiat Dominus for the Saturday before the fourth Sunday of October), and of St. Peter of Alcantara. The Suffrage of the Saints was omitted. At Compline the Dominical preces were omitted.

At Mattins the invitatory is Adoremus Dominum and the Office hymn isPrimo die. In the first nocturn the lessons are the Incipit of the Second Book of the Machabees. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a tract of St. Chrysostom on the forty-third psalm. In the third nocturn the homily is from St. Gregory on St. Matthew's Gospel. At Lauds the Office hymn is Aeterne rerum. After the collect of the Sunday a commemoration of St. Peter of Alcantara is sung. The Suffrage of the Saints is omitted.

At Prime, Pss. 117, 118(i) & 118(ii) both Quicumque and the Dominical preces are omitted .

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of St. Peter of Alcantara, the third collect is Deus, qui nos homines - for the propagation of the faith. This is taken from the Votive Mass Pro Propagatione Fidei. The Creed is sung and the preface of the Blessed Trinity.

Vespers are of the Sunday, Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 113, and the Office hymn is Lucis creator. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations are sung of the following Office of St. John Cantius and of St. Peter of Alcantara. The Suffrage of the Saints is omitted as are the Dominical preces at Compline.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' at Vespers on Saturday only the Sunday was commemorated. The third Sunday of October and its week are omitted this year (vide: rubric pro loco before the III Sunday of October, BR1961. When the III Sunday occurs between 18th and 21st October, it and its week are omitted). Mattins is cut down to a single nocturn and three lessons. At Lauds there are no commemorations. At Mass the collect etc for the Propagation of the Faith is added to the collect of the Sunday under one conclusion. At Vespers there are no commemorations.

Art: Jerome Nadal

The third week of October