Dominican Liturgy Publications is happy to announce the publication of the Ordo for The Dominican Rite in 2017, which is the work of the editor of Breviarium S.O.P. This booklet is intended for use by anyone who prays the 1962 Dominican Rite Breviary. It includes a complete calendar for the Dominican Rite liturgical year for 2017.
In addition, it includes the collects for the Dominican blesseds who are not on the calendar (so that a votive commemoration can be made of their feast), obits of the deceased masters of the Order, and announcements of days when Lay Dominicans can obtain plenary indulgences. Finally, it contains an English translation of the Office of Prime, which was omitted from the 1967 English translation of the Dominican Breviary.
It can be purchased here.
Friday, December 16, 2016
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
The Domincan Habit and the Holy Rosary
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Dominicans Wearing Rosaries and Capelli Romani (Roman hats) |
However, I then found that n. 50 of the 1969 Constitutions, which says. "The habit of the Order consists of a white tunic with a white scapular and capuce, with a black cappa and capuce, a leather belt and rosary." And so n. 50 reads for all revisions of the Constitutions up to the present age, even though Appendix 3 in each addition never mentions it. This legislation is virtually identical to that no n. 601 of the Pre-Vatican-II constitutions of 1954 and 1932, although these specify that the Rosary is to hang from the belt. These norms descend from n. 892 of the 1924 Constitutions, which mentions the Rosary but says nothing of where it is worn. And this legislation is the first official entry of the Rosary into the Constitutions as part of the habit. It was undoubtedly introduced as part of the reform of the older law (as witnessed in Jandel) in the wake of the new Code of Canon Law in 1917.So the Holy Rosary has been an official part of the Dominican Habit since the promulgation of the revised Constitutions of 1924.
So what of the Rosary and the habit before that date? I find that, in 1879, the founder of my Western Dominican Province, Fr. Francis-Sadoc Vilarrassa, a noted canonist of his time, wrote, commenting on the Jandel Constitutions, “Though there is not any ordinance as to the wearing of Rosaries, it seems were are bound to wear them in virtue of the ancient and universal custom of the order.” So before 1924 Dominicans wore the habit Rosary, not because of legislation, but because of custom with force of law. How custom become law is no our topic here, but rather the question is when did the custom arise and when did it become “universal.”
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Blessed Venvenuta |
In our primitive constitutions (ca. 1220), the conversi or lay brothers (now called cooperator brothers) were required to say set numbers of Paters for the various canonical hours, which they could not sing with the clerics because they normally were illiterate and had manual labor to do to support the community. But in 1252 the Provincial Chapter of Dacia, held at Lund in what is today Sweden, made the first attempt to add a 100 Aves to 100 Paters lay brothers said in their suffrages for dead. This did not last, but by early 1300s, 100 Paters and Aves had became the conversi suffrage for a dead member of their community. Then, in 1366, the General Chapter at Rome first added Aves to all Paters that the convesi said instead of the Divine Office. After some back and forth, this practice was finalized by the early 1400. But none of this was the "Dominican" Rosary as we know it, with 15 decades of 1 Pater, 10 Aves, and a Gloria Patri. As far as we can tell, that form, with a set of 15 mysteries to meditate on, first appeared in the writings of Dominic of Prussia (1382–1461), a Carthusian monk. So, the custom of wearing the Rosary has to date after the mid-1460s.
Famously, Bl. Alan de la Roche, O.P. (d. 1475) promoted the devotion to the Rosary throughout the last 16 years of his life, preaching and writing about it. In 1470, he founded the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. Later legends (recorded only after his death) ascribe to him visions of Our Lady, the Rosary, and St. Dominic, supposedly dated to about 1460. So the earliest date for Dominican habit Rosaries would be the late 1400s. And, indeed, the earliest image I know of showing Rosary, is a woodcut dated to that period. It also shows Dominic (not wearing it) and I reproduce it here.
There is nothing that I have found that indicates any Dominican wearing of, or legislation on, the Holy Rosary, however, for another 100 years. Then, I understand that, in the 1540s, Fray Domingo Betanzos, O.P. (d. 1549), first provincial of the Dominican province of Mexico, required friars of that Province to wear a Rosary around their necks. This practice would then spread with Spanish Dominicans to South America and eventually to the Philippines and the Far East. This then is the first example of wearing of the Holy Rosary with the habit, although it is not universal and not on the belt. On September 1569, the Dominican Pope, Saint Pius V, acknowledged as a "pious belief" the legends linking Dominic and the Holy Rosary, usually connected with Alan de la Roche, in his bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices, which also granted indulgences for those saying it and meditating on the mysteries. Then in 1571 comes the first-known mention of the Rosary in any legislation of the Order as a whole. The General Chapter at Rome in that year urged the promotion of the Rosary in preaching. This is not surprising as that was the year of the great victory over the Muslim invasion of Christian Europe at the Battle of Lepanto, a victory that Pope Pius ascribed to praying the Rosary.
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St. Dominic, no Habit Rosary, 1593 |
Nevertheless, as is clear from the image of the elderly St. Martin de Porres I featured in my earlier post that, in the Spanish Dominions at least, the wearing of a Rosary around the neck had become common, even customary. Then, in 1670, at the Rome Chapter, the daily recitation of the Rosary in choir by all friars, priests as well as lay brothers, was mandated, a requirement that remains to this day when not impeded by pastoral responsibilities.
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St. Dominc wearing the Rosary, by Coello |
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St. Rose of Lima with a Rosary |
So, my conclusion is that the custom of wearing a habit Rosary become more or less universal in the late 1600s. It certainly was so by the 1700s, as I know of no images of Dominicans from that century or later without it. If, however, anyone knows an image of that late date showing a Dominican without a habit Rosary, let me now and I will add it to this post.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Early Modern Reforms of the Traditional Dominican Rite.
The Dominican Rite, both for the Mass and Office is famous for its stability and resistance to liturgical changes. And, at least for the text of the Mass, this is certainly true. The Office, however, after resisting many changes affecting
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Elevation at the Solemn Mass (Star of the Sea Church, SF 2015) |
My recent historical work on the history of the Dominican lay brothers (today called "cooperator brothers"), included reading through the nine volumes of Acta of the Dominican General Chapters from 1220 to 1843. As I was doing this, I noted the legislation that reformed or modified the liturgy. Here are the major reforms.
For me, the most suggestive piece of legislation was not directly liturgical, but involved the preparation of priests. In 1345, the General Chapter at Manresa, required that the prior of the local priory (priestly formation was the responsibility of each priory in those days) make sure that any friar to be ordained "understand the Canon of the Mass from the Te igitur to the Pater noster. Ignorance of the meaning of the Latin was such a problem that neither subpriors or vicars were allowed to make this decision. But now on to liturgical changes.
Today some of the most controversial issues for Catholics in church involve how to show respect to the altar, cross, and Blessed Sacrament. In the middle ages, the profound bow was the usual way of showing respect. The Dominican Rite only slowly adopted genuflection that became the Roman practice in the later middle ages..
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Dominicans added the Elevation of the Chalice in about 1300 |
Introduction of genuflections where the medieval Dominican Rite prescribed bows had actually begun earlier than that. For example, the General Chapter of Rome 1569 (ACG 5: 90) instructed the priest to simply bow while all others present knelt at the words Incarnatus est in the creed. Rome 1580 (ACG 5: 192) then introduced kneeling at the word "procedentes" in the Epiphany Gospel, during the Te Deum, and at the word "vereremur" in the hymn Tantum Ergo, "following Papal Chapel example." And finally the chatper of Lisbon in 1618 (ACG 6:300) confirms for general use the "pious custom" in Spsnish Provinces of kneeing at the words "Eia ergo" in Salve Regina.
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A Dominican Deacon Sings the Gospel (ca. 1950) |
The early modern period also so introducted ritual changes that friars often think of as dating back to the
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Salve Procession after Vestition, St. Dominic Church, SF, 2012 |
I had always wondered about the origin of the idea that medieval friars broke sleep to rise for "Midnight Matin" and then returned to their cells for a couple hours rest before Lauds. This was not the case. In the middle ages, the friars rose early, usually around 3 a.m. to sing both Matins and Lauds together, finishing before dawn. I now know that the first example of breaking sleep is only witnessed at the Chapter of Valencia in 1647. It was then confirmed at Rome in 1650 (ACG 7: 282), where the "usus" of rising for "Midnight Matins," is required of all priories in the order, "according to the custom of the provinces as to when midnight is." This is the first time Matins is separated from Lauds as a "midnight" office." But small houses, at least, could rise before dawn for the traditional single office of Matins-Lauds. In the north the combined office of Matins-Lauds should be at 4 am in winter and 3 am in summer, as it was usually in all the middle ages.
Finally, I now know when the Order finally adopted a ritual for distributing Communion to the laity present
at conventual Masses, something not done in the middle ages. The Chapter of Rome, 1583 (ACG 5: 239) provided as follows: First, the Confiteor was recited by the laity with the priest giving the two absolutions. Then he asked each communicant, "Credis hunc esse verum Christum Deum et Hominem?" as he displayed the Host. The recipient responded "Credo" and then recited the formula "Domine non sum dignus, etc." three times. The priest then gave Communion using the usual formula, "Corpus Domini nostri Iesu Christ," etc.
I have also found some interesting legislation on music and the use of the organ, but will save that for another posting.
Monday, September 19, 2016

If you are in the vicinity of Washington, D.C. you may be interested in this event organised by 'Juventutem DC'. There will be a Low Mass in the Dominican rite at the Lourdes chapel in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, followed by the Dominican blessing of roses and Rosaries – please bring your own if you would like to avail of this sacramental blessing. There will also be a short talk after this entitled The Rosary: Medication against Spiritual Alzheimer's. Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. of the Province of England will deliver the talk and also say the Mass.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
The Gloria and Credo in the post-1960 Dominican Rite
I have been asked to summarize the use of the Gloria and Credo at Mass in the Dominican Rite according to the rubrcs in force in 1962. This means under the new ranking system of feasts and the new assignations of the chant ordinaries. Here is a summary
All 1st-class Feasts:
Gloria and Credo are both always said
Mass Ordinary I. "In Festis solemnibus" Graduale S.O.P., p. 126*ff
Except when it is a feast of the Blessed Virgin, then:
Mass Ordinary V. "Sabbatis, Festis, et Octavis B.M.V." GSOP, p. 139*ff
All Sundays of the Year except Easter and Pentecost
Credo is always said, Gloria is said outside of Advent, Lent, and Passiontide.
Mass Ordinary II. "In Duplicibus communibus et Dominicis majoribus" GSOP p. 132*ff
2d-class feasts of Apostles:
Gloria and Credo are both always said
Mass Ordinary III. "In Duplicibus et Dominicis minoribus" GSOP, p.135*ff
2d-class feasts of BVM:
Gloria and Credo are both always said
Mass Ordinary V. "Sabbatis, Festis, et Octavis B.M.V." GSOP, p. 139*ff
All other 2d-class feasts:
Gloria is said but not the Credo
Mass Ordinary III. "In Duplicibus et Dominicis minoribus" p.135*ff
Note that during Paschal Time on 1st- and 2nd-class feasts. not of the Virgin, the Easter
Kyrie is used from Mass Ordinary IV. "Tempore Paschali" p. 138*
3d.- and 4th-class feasts of BVM (i.e. Votive on Saturday):
Gloria is always said, but not the Credo
Mass Ordinary V. "Sabbatis, Festis, et Octavis B.M.V." GSOP, p. 139*ff
All other 3d-class feasts:
Gloria is said but not the Credo
Mass Ordinary VI. "In Semiduplicibus et Simplicibus" GSOP p.143*ff
All other 4th-class ferials and days of penance (i.e. 2d-class Ember Days)
Gloria and Credo are never said
Mass Ordinary VI. "Profestis diebus" GSOP p.145*ff with "Ite Missa" in 1985 Missal
Note the "Benedicamus Domino" is only used when some function IMMEDIATELY
follows the Mass---e.g. Procession on Holy Thursday---see 1965 Missal
Other Mass Ordinaries may, of course, be substituted for the Dominican Cycle.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
St. Martin de Porres, Donatus
AN UPDATE (Aug. 4) AT THE END!
As some readers know, I am currently on research leave (commonly. but incorrectly. called "sabbatical") from my teaching at the Dominican School of Philosophy in Berkeley. The project I have been working on will, I hope, result in a history of the non-ordained Dominican brothers. Today these brothers are normally called "cooperator brothers," but in the past they were referred to as "lay brothers" (in contrast to priest brothers, who are "clerics") or, most commonly in written documents, conversi (singular conversus), a word hard to translate into English, but basically meaning an individual who has undertaken a "conversion" of life to live like a religious, often within the context of a monastery. In our order, however, conversi (lay brothers) made solemn vows and were not mere affiliates of the order, but brothers in the same sense that the clerics are and were. One of the surprises for me during this research was to discover that there is no contemporary evidence whatsoever that the great Dominican saint Martin de Porres (1579–1639) was ever a lay or cooperator brother.


In the course of my work, I discovered the startling reason. After Martin's death, his obituary was included in the acts of the Dominican General Chapter of 1642. When I reached those acts in the nine-volume Latin edition of the "acta" of all the chapters from 1220 to 1844, I was shocked to find that he is not called "conversus" but rather "donatus." The text reads: "In provincia s. Ioannis de Perù in conventu Limensi ss. Rosarii obiit vir mirae virtutis et santimoniae fr. Martinus de Porres, donatus," That is: "In the province of St. John [the Baptist] of Peru, in the priory of the Holy Rosary in Lima, a man o f great virtues and holiness died, brother Martin de Porres, donatus." Note it does not say "conversus" that is "lay brother." And this is not an accident. The same acts also give obituaries for two holy lay brothers of the Province of Peru, and it calls them

So where did the idea that he was a lay brother come from? I suspect, and this is just a guess, that, it happened when statues started to be made of him after his beatification, like that reproduced on the left. It was natural to portray him like a nineteenth- and twentieth-century donatus, who would have worn the "modern" lay brothers' habit. No one would have remembered what a seventeenth-century tertiary habit looked like, just as they would not have known what a lay brother's habit of Martin's time (gray scapular and a large black poncho rather than the modern cappa or cape) would have looked like. So the saint's image in modern art is, I suspect, the origin of the mistaken idea that he was a lay or cooperator brother.
UPDATE: I now have found more information on St. Martin's status. The Lima Process for his canonization, containing witnesses questioned in 1660, 1662, and 1671 (ed. Valencia, Spain, 1960), consistently refers to the saint as "religioso donado," as do the later documents I have already cited. But the testimony given in 1683 at Lima by Bernardo de Medina, who wrote the first biography of Martin, reads as follows: "sa' che il detto servo di Dio Fra Martino de Porres fu religioso donato professo dell'ordine de Predicatori, e che in quanto ad giorno, mese, e anno che ricevette l'abito e professo', si rimette ai libri delle profezioni." That is: "He knows that the said servant of God, Bro. Martin de Porres, was a professed oblate (donado) religious of the Order of Preachers, and as to the day, month, and year when he received the habit and professed, one may refer to the books of profession." What this profession entailed, is explained in the Summarium prepared in 1732 as part of his canonization process. It reads as follows: "Vix quindecim annos natus Ordini S. Dominici tamquam donatus seu tertiarius laicus nomen dedit, ac post noviciatus annum, ad sollemnem trium votorum professionem, quod perraro hac tempestate donatis concessum est, die 2 iun ii anno 1603 admissus fuit." That is :At about the age of fifteen years, [Martin] give in his name as a donatus or lay tertiary, and after a year of novitiate he was allowed on June 2, 1603, to make solemn profession of the three vows, something very rarely permitted to donati at that time. I quote these texts from Acta Sanctorum 68 (Nov. III): 111, 115.
So St. Martin's status is now clear. He was not a conversus or lay brother, but a tertiary oblate (donatus), however one who was granted the privilege of making solemn vows as would clerical friars, lay brothers, or cloistered nuns. But he did so while remaining a donatus and not thereby changing his category to that of a lay brother. So, the profession of 1603 and his tertiary habit in he painting are now both explained. All that remains to trace is the origin of the erroneous identification of him as a lay brother, something that seems to be 20th-century.
Now (Aug. 28) another update! I just got a copy of Celia Cussen's book Black Saint of the Americas: The Life and Afterlife of Martín de Porres, which came out from Cambridge Univ. Press in 2014. This is a major work and the first "historical" study of St. Martin. She correctly identifies him as a donado. The "afterlife" section includes a review of images of the saint in art. These show, with one interesting exception that up to the 1800s he was always shown in the tertiary habit, not the lay brother's habit. The one exception she considers 17th-century, but it is "anonymous" and "whereabouts unknown." If it is authentic, it is the earliest example of the mistaken habit. Oddly, Dr. Cussen does not notice the discrepancy. I urge those intenersted in Martin and his remarkable life to take a look at this book. It seems that I am not the first to wonder about whether St. Martin was actually a lay brother.
Friday, July 29, 2016
Away from California on Research Leave
Greetings Readers!
As of July 2016, I am away from my office at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. Most importantly this means that, if you want to order used Dominican Rite liturgical books, I cannot process the order as I am out of state. So watch for the reappearance of the link "Buy Used Dominican Rite Liturgical Books" after I get back from my research leave ("sabbatical") in September 2017. When that happens, I will be taking orders.
As of July 2016, I am away from my office at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. Most importantly this means that, if you want to order used Dominican Rite liturgical books, I cannot process the order as I am out of state. So watch for the reappearance of the link "Buy Used Dominican Rite Liturgical Books" after I get back from my research leave ("sabbatical") in September 2017. When that happens, I will be taking orders.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Dominican Stabat Mater
Nuns Singing in the Bologna MS |
The discovery of this manuscript, as explained in the article available here (in Italian), shows, by the date of the manuscript that the traditional ascription of authorship to Jacopone of Todi can no longer be sustained. The date, however, leaves open the possibility, often mentioned, that it is the work of Pope Innocent III. Perhaps it was composed by the Dominincan nuns of Sant'Agnese in Bologna.
This version is interesting for a number of reasons. First, this is the earliest use of the text as a sequence. Until the discovery of this version, it was only known as a hymn until the late middle ages. This manuscript shows that the earliest known use of the text as a sequence was among Italian Dominican nuns in the 1200s. Next, the text includes not only a number of verbal variants, but also includes two verses absent from the commonly received version. Those who wish to examine these can download my transcription and compare the text to the received version here.
Even more interesting is the music. As pointed out to me by the Dominican nuns of Summit NJ, this ancient sequence borrows, with the exception of one stanza (cf. verses 19 and 20), the melodies of the Sequence of St. Dominic in the Dominican Rite. There are a number of minor musical variants as well. Those interested might want to compare the music to that found in the Dominican Gradual for the Mass of St. Dominic.
Through the kindness of a reader who converted the PDFs of this music into JPGs, here are images of the newly discovered 13th-Century Stabat Mater. I am aware that these images are a bit blurry; if you click on them or download them, you will get a clearer image.



Thursday, March 3, 2016
Dominican Chants for Holy Week

Those who purchase this book for liturgical use will want to order three copies, one each for the narrator, Christ, and the crowd. The volume is bound in attractive hard cover. You can read about this book and other offerings at Dominican Liturgy Publications. I also remind readers that the PDF for the Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae, that is all the choir music of Holy Week in the Dominican Rite is available on the left side bar here at Dominican Liturgy.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Latin-English Dominican Rite Hand Missal (1959) Available for Download
I am happy to announce that though the labors of Fr Sebastian White, O.P., I can make available the text of the Saint Dominic Missal: Latin--English (New York, 1959). This hand missal contains all the changes and reforms from the 1950s and so represents the Dominican Rite as of 1962, which is the form in which it is to be used today. I regret that Dominican Liturgy Publications cannot reprint this book as it is over the 800 page limit for our books-on-demand printer (Lulu.com).
The missal PDF can also be downloaded from the left sidebar of this site under "Dominican Rite Texts--Downloadable." You might want to take a look at other publications at Dominican Liturgy Publications.
The missal PDF can also be downloaded from the left sidebar of this site under "Dominican Rite Texts--Downloadable." You might want to take a look at other publications at Dominican Liturgy Publications.
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