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| source: orbiscatholicus.blogspot.com |
The 1962 crowd at Rorate extol the centuries old rubric of the Christmas vigil Mass superseding the scheduled fourth Sunday of Advent (a shame we had the longest possible Advent last year and the shortest this year), without any commemoration of the Sunday. Are we to believe this is consonant with liturgical custom in the Roman rite? The Sunday is entirely disregarded on the grounds that it is already a feast of the Lord, making a commemoration redundant, according to the drastic reductions of Papa Roncalli. The problem is that the two are not exactly the same sort of day.
The vigil is, for one, a vigil. Prior to 1960 it was exceptional among major vigils in that it was celebrated in violet vestments without use of the folded chasuble (more along of the lines of vigils of the Apostles—axed in the '62 books, less like Pascha and Pentecost); also unusual were the combination of ferial Mattins and its one nocturne of lessons from Saint Jerome with festive Lauds, complete with doubled antiphons, reflecting a full celebration.
Advent's fourth Sunday is comparatively conventional and restrained. It is still a semi-double, which would ordinarily admit commemorations and, despite the festive Lauds normal to Sunday, it is still a somewhat penitential day, with folded chasubles, no organ music, and continuation of the Rorate caeli desuper texts from early Advent.
It seems improper to call either day full festive, but the vigil clearly anticipates Christ's birth while the Sunday looks forward with sober restraint. The latter is as integral to fulfilling Advent as the former is to ending it, and so omitting its memory makes Advent shorter than the natural calendar has already done.
Byzantine tradition has a commemoration system both simple and complex. At Vespers one simply adds the troparia from the superseded feast to those of the day; at the Divine Liturgy one tacks the tropar and kontakion onto those of the day. Orthros (Mattins) and its sessional hymns are where things get messy. The older Roman system similarly desires to accommodate as much of the liturgy as possible and does so in an easier manner, merely adding the orations at Mass, combining Mattins readings of the day so the concatenated lessons of the replaced feast Mass may be added, the versicles and oration at the major hours, and the Gospel read in place of Saint John at Mass. There are more places for commemorations, but they are easier to manage.
In light of this, the 1962 omission of the Advent Sunday, which is fundamentally a different day than the Christmas vigil, seems more consonant with.... the rubrics of 1970.... with the two days flipped....
Note: folded chasubles seem to be making an overdue comeback. Perhaps we are witnessing organic, rather than wholesale, restoration?
I'm a bit rusty on the use of folded chasubles. So on which penitential days were they worn exactly?
ReplyDeleteIn the Roman rite they are worn on Sundays and weekdays after Ash Wednesday until the Baptisms on Holy Saturday inclusive, on Sundays and weekdays of Advent, at the Pentecost Vigil until the Baptisms inclusive, during Ember Masses, and during the blessing and procession on Candlemas.
DeleteNot to play devil’s advocate, and someone correct me if there is something I am missing, but I believe commemorating Sundays was itself a novelty of Pius X modifications. Before that I believe only impeded saints’ feasts were commemorated, but impeded Sundays were transferred to the nearest available day, meaning that Advent 4 would not have been commemorated before the 20th century.
ReplyDeleteNo, you're wrong: Sundays were commemorated and feast days impeded by special Sundays like the Sundays of Advent were transferred before Pius X. The Vigil of Christmas is special, though. You can see for yourself in a pre-1911 office or Missal. The Sundays of Advent and Lent are NEVER transferred!
DeleteAlso, I don't know what info you got, but you're completely wrong about Pius X being the innovator of commemorating Sundays. Pius X's intention was to reduce drastically Sunday commemorations. Pre-Pius X, more often than not, the common Sunday was commemorated because saints of any Double ranked higher than Sunday; Semi-Doubles and lower were commemorated.
DeleteJGKester,
DeleteYour question prompted me to look at some old Missals and I think I have an answer. Sundays (or days of season) seem to have been commemorated quite far back into medieval times, probably one of the reasons commemorations arose in the first place. The novelty of S Pius V was the proper Last Gospel as part of a commemoration whenever a superseded Mass was not taken from a Common. The 1474 Curial Missal does not mention the Last Gospel because it was said on the way back to the sacristy; with the Last Gospel now said at the altar one would have the Missal around to expand the commemoration.
On ordinary, "Green" Sundays that are replaced by a feast the Sunday Mass is commemorated with orations and proper Last Gospel. The Sunday Mass would then be "resumed" (extra orations, no Gloria, Alleluia, or Creed) on the first available feria of the week.
Because the Vigil of the Nativity is an odd liturgical day I looked at what the Missal said for the Mass. It instructs that no additional orations are said at the Vigil Mass "nisi Vigilia invenerit in Dominica." The Mattins would, I believe, follow the Sunday structure but with the Vigil's invitatory and third nocturne; the Mass would be the Vigil with a commemoration of Sunday; and the rest of the Office would be of the Vigil.
I also believe that the Advent Sunday would be commemorated at the Vigil Mass's orations, but in this one case the Last Gospel is still In principio. It's all rather complicated.
DeleteThe reason the Gospel of Advent IV is not read for the Last Gospel when the Vigil falls on Sunday is because the same Gospel is already sung the previous day for the Ember Saturday Mass.
ReplyDeleteTo add to the post. Traditionally, and even in '62ville, when the Vigil falls on Sunday, Advent IV still features in order to give the Vigil a complete Dominical Office. First Vespers on Saturday evening are of Semidouble rite and are entirely from Advent IV, inclusive of the Collect for that Saturday. Compline the eve before has the Preces, being again Semidouble. Mattins takes its first two nocturnes straight from Advent IV again (in reduced '62ville, this only means that the antiphons and psalms for Advent Sundays are used), and because it's Sunday, that entire Hour is of Semidouble, rather than Simple, rite. From Lauds on, however, Advent IV disappears except for commemorations at Lauds and Mass, prior to 62.
John, if you don't mind me asking, do you guys at Mater E have those pre-1962 commemorations? Having heard about your gradual restoration of Holy Week, I'd just be curious to hear if any other pre-62 features have been making their way back into your liturgy. I have been to only one place that I *thought* (based on my much more limited knowledge) incorporated a couple of pre-62 things. At least, they were in a ragged old hand missal from 1933 I was using, but not in the iMass app's 1962 Mass for the day.
DeleteTom B, the "pre-62" restorations have been limited and piecemeal. We haven't yet restored commemorations on Sunday, either of saints or common. What we have done besides Holy Week is restore the Pentecost Vigil, the use of folded chasubles whenever they would be used, if we have Solemn Rites, the Proper Last Gospel when applicable, and the Celebrant reading the Epistle and Gospel privately at Solemn Mass. There has been an interest expressed in the Common Commemorations, but no opportunity yet to really have that discussion.
Delete