The Dominican Rite Easter Vigil befrore 1957

As most readers know, the old Easter Vigil of the Roman Rite underwent a series of reforms beginning in 1951 and continuing until the introduction of the revised Holy Week Rite of Pope Pius XII in the spring of 1956. The Dominicans imitated as much as possible these changes until we produced a new Vigil of our own, one that went into effect at Easter 1957, a year after the Roman Rite. Readers who know the Vigil of the 1962 Roman Missal would find that in use by Dominicans from 1957 onward virtually identical to it, so I am not going to describe it. But as our older liturgy is quite different and of historical interest; thus this post.

Following the medieval practice of Saturday afternoon celebration of the Easter Vigil, the Dominican Vigil began after the singing of None. In the modern period, when the Vigil had migrated to Saturday morning, this meant that Matins and the four Little Hours of Holy Saturday were sung back-to-back in the morning so that the Vigil itself could begin before 9:00 a.m. One of the first effects of Pope Pius XII's period of experimentation after 1951 was that in some houses the Little Hours of Holy Saturday were restored to their normal times and the Vigil was celebrated in the later afternoon, but this was by no means the universal practice. Morning celebration continued in many places until 1957.

The old Dominican Vigil began with the Blessing of the New Fire. The prior or other priest celebrant, in purple cope, standing before the high altar, blessed lighted coals in a small metal dish held by the sacristan. The coals had been lighted without any special ceremony in the sacristry before the service. The deacon held the missal. The blessing prayer Domine sancte Pater was short and merely recited, not sung. A small candle was then lighted from these coals, but they were kept in the presbytery until the lighting of the church lamps, so that they could be used to relight the Easter Candle should a draft put it out. The deacon received the prior's blessing, gave the subdeacon the missal and placed himself to the subdeacon's left, which was the Gospel side, as all were facing the altar. The two acolytes with unlighted candles flanked the deacon and subdeacon. The prior took his place at the Epistle side of the altar, as he did for the singing of the Gospel at Solemn Mass. The Deacon then sang the Exultet, for which Dominicans have a tone somewhat different from the Roman and which differs in a number of places from the Roman text.

Although in modern times Dominicans used Easter Candles of conventional size, as late as the 1800s we often used a very large Easter Candle, much taller than those in use today. Our Province archives have pictures from the 1850s of one of these candles at our old priory church in Benicia California. I will try to get a scan of it. Dominicans did not use a three-branch holder for the Easter Fire and there was no chantning of Lumen Christi. In many priories the ancient practice of the "Easter Card" (Cartula Paschalis) was maintained into the last century. This was tacked to the candle in place of the modern practice of lettering on the candle. The card gave the year of the Lord, the years since the foundation of the Order, Years since the death of St. Dominic, the Epact, the Dominical Letter, and the Indiction.

When the deacon reached the words In huius igitur noctis, he inserted the first grain of incense into the candle; at the words Rutilans ignis accendit, he lit the Paschal Candle. The server holding the other four grains of incense then inserted them as the deacon continued to sing the Blessing. These acts would have required use of a ladder in the old days. As the deacon sang Qui licit sit divisus in partes, the two acolytes' candles were lighted, and then, at Pretiosae huius lampadis, the church lamps. When the Exultet was finished, the ministers returned to the sacristy, put on white Mass vestments and returned to the altar. There they bowed and went to be seated for the readings, without any other ceremony. During this one Mass of the year, the acolyte's candles were not snuffed when not in use, but allowed to burn continuously.

A lector in surplice then sang the four readings of the Vigil. These were Gen. 1-2; Ex. 14-15; Is. 4; and Is. 54-55.  In the thirteenth-century the number of readings at the vigil varied widely: from 4 to 18. The Dominican shorter version was found widely in use in Italy. There is actually nothing unusual about it.  So, I do not believe that the Dominican was a special model for the post-1955 Roman revision of the Vigil--the readings do not match. I would think that the Roman model was one of the shorter Italian (Roman) uses from the middle ages.

A Tract and Collect followed each reading except that from Genesis, which had only a Collect. The second reading from Isaiah had two collects, one before and one after the Tract Sicut Cervus. Two chanters wearing surplices in medio chori then lead the community in singing the Litany of the Saints in its Dominican form. When the choir had sung the last Agnus Dei of the Litany, the choir began the Easter Kyrie and the major ministers approached the altar for the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. 

The priest then intoned at the center of the altar, the Gloria in the solemn tone (very similar to that of Roman Mass IV). As it was intoned, the organ played for the first time since the beginning of Lent, the church bells were rung for the first time since Holy Thursday, and the friars took off their black cappas to reveal their white habits. The subdeacon then sang the Epistle from Colossians 3.

The Dominican way of singing the Easter Gospel Alleluia differs from the common Roman form, with its three repetitions of the Alleluia and cantors raising each intonation. To the right you can see the Easter Alleluia according to the Domincan chant, the melody of which differs a bit from the common Roman form. You can also see how it is sung. Two cantors in medio chori intone it and the friars all rise. The community then joins in on the short melisma at the end: as indicated by the double bar. Note that this use of the double bar in Dominican notation functions as does the asterisk in Solesmes notation. Then the entire Alleluia is repeated by all, as indicated by the "Repet." The friars then sit while the two cantors sing the verse, joining in for eius at the end, as indicated again by the double bar before that word. As can be seen from "Non repet. Alleluia." the Alleluia is not repeated after the verse. So the Dominican practice is to repeat the Alleluia only once, before the verse. Originally we sang the Alleluia once more after the verse, as I will explain below. Another pair of cantors next joined the original two to sing, antiphonally, the Tract (Ps. 116). Then came the deacon's chanting of the Gospel from Matthew 28.

The current use at the Alleluia reflects changes made in our liturgy at the time of Humbert's reforms in 1256. In the picture to the right you can see displayed one of the four extant Dominican Missals from before the Reforms of Humbert of Romans in 1256. This book represents the "Liturgy of the Four Friars" whose standardization of Dominican practice was approved in 1246. The left page shows the end of the Litany and the Vigil Mass of Easter (the right page is the Mass of Christmas). If you look carefully you can see where the rubrics for the Alleluia have been changed to conform to Humbert's revision: originally the Alleluia was sung a third time after the verse. This is here crossed out. The Tract was then sung in medio with two pairs of friars alternating the verses. At the Gospel only incense was used; no candles or cross were carried. There was no Credo and no Offertory chant.

The Mass then continued as usual until the Pax Domini. Unlike the usual practice at Solemn Mass, the Pax instrument was not passed and there was no Agnus Dei. Rather, a very short vespers service began immediately after the response to the Pax Domini. The triple Alleluia antiphon was sung and followed by Psalm 116 with its Gloria Patri. After the choir repeated the antiphon, the cantor intoned the Magnificat Antiphon Vespere autem sabbati, which was also repeated after the choir had finished the Magnificat. The priest, who had by this time finished communion, then sang the Postcommunion Collect. The Mass ended in the usual way with the Placeat, the Ite Missa est, the blessing, and the Last Gospel, the deacon, however, sang the Ite with triple alleluias. Compline was sung after the major meal with chants proper to the Easter season and the Salve Regina was followed by procession to the altar of the Virgin Mary singing the Litany of Loreto, was customary on all Saturdays of the year. In case you are wondering, Dominicans sing the Salve Regina all year round after Compline.


There was no General Communion of the friars at the Vigil because the Easter General Communion was at the day Mass of Easter. But I understand that in many places a General Communion had been introduced into the Vigil in the early part of the twentieth century. Such as the practice at our House of Studies in the early 1950s. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Dominican Vigil is the absence of any rites related to Baptism and the font. This reflects the monastic origins of our rite: monasteries did not have pastoral cures and so had no baptismal font since they never needed to perform baptisms. The rite is also of interest for the simplicity of the Fire Ceremony, which is probably quite ancient.

The Four Friars Missal show is Lausanne: Musee Historique MS MG 2117 and dates to the late 1240s. This post follows the rubrics of the 1933 Dominican Missal, the 1869 Caeremoniale juxta Ritum S. Ordinis Praedicatorum, and the memories of older friars of the Western Dominican Province, in particular Bro. Raymond Bertheaux.

The Domincan Habit and the Holy Rosary

Dominicans Wearing Rosaries and Capelli Romani (Roman hats)

In the wake of a recent post on St. Martin de Porres, which included a discussion of the Tertiary ("Third Oder") habit that the oldest painting of his shows him wearing, a commentator asked when the Holy Rosary became an "official" part of the Dominican habit.  This seemed an easy question to answer, but it proved more complicated.  The first thing I did was to look in the most recent version of the Dominican Constitutions (2014), appendix 3, which describes our habit.  It says absolutely nothing about the Rosary.  Perhaps then, the Rosary was dropped after the major revision of our Constitutions in 1968.  I checked there in appendix 3: nothing on the Rosary.

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.”

Blessed Venvenuta

In the thirteenth century, the practice of reciting set numbers of Pater Nosters (Our Fathers) was already a popular lay devotion.  I have collected examples of this from the lives of Italian saints and blesseds of the period in my book Cities of God. My favorite is the Dominican blessed, Benvenuta Bojani (1254-1292) From the age of seven to twelve, she said 100 Paters and Aves daily, doing 100 prostrations in honor of the Lord's Nativity and a second 100 prostrations in honor of his Resurrection.  To this she later added 1000 Aves in honor of the Blessed Virgin, except on Saturdays, Our Lady's special day, when she doubled the number.  So she was not only saying Paters but also Aves.

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.

St. Dominic, no Habit Rosary, 1593

By 1583, however, the General Chapter at Rome first mentioned the recitation of the Holy Rosary in an ordinance of the whole order: It allowed lay brothers and Tertiaries (conversi et seculares) to replace the 100 Paters and Aves in suffrages for the dead with five decades of the Rosary.  In 1596, the order gave the title "Our Lady of the Holy Rosary" to the new province of the Philippines and the Orient.  I find, however, no evidence that the Spanish Dominion practice of wearing the Rosary around the neck had spread any beyond the Spanish missions.  In 1593, for example, a title page of Spanish catechism still shows St. Dominic without any habit Rosary. As you can see to the left.

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.

St. Dominc wearing the Rosary, by Coello

Artistic evidence in the later 1600s, suggests that it is in that period that the wearing of the Rosary, now on the belt, finally became a "universal" custom.  It is very difficult to trace the introduction of customs, but artistic representations are usually a good indication.  And it is in the 1660s and 1670s, that artists first begin to portray Dominican saints wearing a Rosary.  At good example from this period is the painting to the right by the Spanish late-Baroque painter Claudio Coello (1642–1693), It shows St. Dominic wearing the Fifteen-Decade Dominican Marian Rosary.  I do not claim that this is the earliest example of this iconography, only the earliest I have found.  If a reader knows of a dated earlier example, I would be happy to add it to this post.

St. Rose of Lima with a Rosary

It is interesting that the same artist did know that St. Rose of Lima (1586–1617) would have worn her Rosary around her neck as that was the practice among Dominicans in Peru during her time.  This, even though he has all the rest of her dress incorrect, painting her in the habit of a cloistered nun, rather than in the Tertiary habit she would have worn (white veil, no scapular, white tunic, black mantle). 

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.

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

Elevation at the Solemn Mass (Star of the Sea Church, SF 2015)

other Latin rites, such as the adoption of the reformed hymnal of Pope Urban VIII, did conform to the new Psalter arrangement of the Psalms in 1923.

    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..

Dominicans added the Elevation of the Chalice in about 1300

The General Chapter of Rome 1569 (Acta Capitulorum Generalium S.O.P., 5: 90) explicitly required that the priest bow ("inclinet") after each of the Consecrations, a clear sign that some Dominican priests were imitating the Roman practice of genuflecting.  This chapter also strictly forbad the priest to say the Words of Institution in the Canon out loud, "which certain priests are doing contrary to many chapters and the decree of the Council."  It was only some forty years later, at the Paris General Chapter of 1611 (ACG 6:145) that the Dominican Rite finally suppressed the use of bows at the Consecration and Elevation, replacing them with the modern four genuflections. This was also the point that the rite adopted the use of a genuflection before and after touching the Sacred Species, a practice often considered traditionally Dominican.

    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.

A Dominican Deacon Sings the Gospel (ca. 1950)

   Early modern chapters also changed the texts of the medieval liturgy and modified rubrics to conform to Roman practice or developed theology.  For example, the Rome Chapter of 1569 (ACG 5: 102) changed the collect of Pope St. Gregory the Great from "ex poenis aeternis" to "ex poenis purgatorii," to reflect the developed doctrine of Purgatory.  Famously, and against considerable resistance, the Chapter of Rome in 1589 (ACG 5: 281) mandated the reading of the Last Gospel at the end of Mass, as in the Roman Rite.  Later, the chapter of Rome, 1656 (ACG 7: 390) required that the priest at Solemn Mass read the Gospel quietly before deacon chanted it, duplication finally made optional by rubrical reforms in 1060.  I find nothing about the priest's reading the Epistle quietly at sung Mass. Probably introduced by custom about this time like the Gospel.  Another change in practice, that of Rome 1656 (ACG 7: 394), which rquired the priest is to say the Sign of the Cross and the verse "Confitemini Domino" in a loud voice at Low Mass, which explains this practice during the use of the "moderate" voice during the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, something I have often wondered about..

    The early modern period also so introducted ritual changes that friars often think of as dating back to the

Salve Procession after Vestition, St. Dominic Church, SF, 2012

days of Humbert of Romans in the thirteenth century.  Take, for example, the lighting of the Sanctus Candle during the Canon at Low Mass.  This was not made obligatory until the Rome Chapter of 1580 (ACG 5: 169), although it does seem to have been a custom at Solemn Mass already.  This introduction was again approved at Lisbon in 1618 (ACG 6: 296).  Bologna 1625 (ACG 6: 241) introduced the wearing of the cope and stole when incensing the Sacrament during Benediction, as well as requiring the singing of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin during the procession after Compline on Saturdays.  Finally, in 1622, the Chapter of Milan (ACG 6: 325) introduced the "Dominican" practice of moving to center of the altar for the Dominus Vobiscum when Mass is before the tabernacle so that the priest's back not be turned to the Sacrament.  This is a clear sign that Dominicans were adopting the modern practice of reservation of the Sacrament on the main altar.  This chapter also introduced the practice of  priests wearing the stole over their cappas when receiving Communion on Holy Thursday, as well as placing over the cappa of a deceased friar prior to interment.

    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.

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.

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.

The usual version of the saint's life (for example, in Butler's Lives of the Saints, the New Catholic Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, or even Giuliana Cavallini's biography prepared for his canonization in 1962) says that originally Martin was first a member of the Dominican Third Order who was permitted to live in the Dominican community, what was and is still called a donatus, which might best be translated "oblate," a term usually associated with the Benedictines. Then, because of his holiness, he was supposedly allowed to make profession as a lay brother, the date usually being 1603.  This struck me as strange, as the oldest painting of the saint, reproduced in this post, does not show him in the habit of a conversus or lay brother.  Rather, he is wearing the habit of a tertiary.  Modern members of the Dominican Laity do not wear a habit, unlike those before the 1700s.  The reason is that before the late 1700s all Dominican tertiaries made a promise of celibacy. They were in a loose sense "religious" as we now understand the term.  Their habit was a white tunic bound with a leather belt and a black cape or mantle. They did NOT wear a scapular of any color.  Contrary to the usual images and statues, this is how St. Catherine of Siena dressed, as can be seen in the oldest painting of her by her contemporary Andrea Vanni, which I also reproduce in this post.  She correctly wears a white (tertiary) veil, no scapular, and a black mantle, just like Martin de Porres in the famous painting. Technically in the language of the time, Martin would have been a "religiosus donatus" or a "tertiarius professus."  The former term, donatus is still used for men who have made promises as a member of the Dominican laity but are allowed to live in a Dominican community and wear the modern clerical (white) habit.

Therein lies a problem that had been bothering me.  After his supposed profession as a lay brother in 1603 at the age of 24, Martin de Porres, would not have worn a tertiary habit. When professed, he would have worn the lay brothers' habit, which, in his time, had a gray scapular.  The lay brothers' scapular was changed to black in the late 1600s, after his death.  Nearly every painting and statue I have ever seen of Martin shows him, anachronistically, with the "modern" black lay brothers' scapular.  But the problem with the painting is that it portrays Martin in late middle age, not in his twenties, and he is still wearing the tertiary habit.  That the image is accurate is shown by a modern reconstruction of Martin's face based on forensic reconstruction from his skull.  I have also included a photo of that reconstruction to the right.You can read about this here. If accurate for the face, even more so for the habit. So, now the problem: why isn't the elderly Martin wearing a lay brother's habit?

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 "conversus."  This led me to try and find any evidence that contemporaries referred to St. Martin as a lay brother (conversus).  I found none.  Instead, I find that the life composed in Spain at the time of the first move to canonize him in 1675 specifically calls him "de la tercera Orden de N.P. Santo Domingo" ("of the third order of Our Holy Father Dominic"), not a lay brother.  And the process of his canonization published in 1686 calls him "religiosus donatus professus" ("professed oblate religious"), not "lay brother."  I have not found any evidence that anyone ever referred to him as a lay brother before the twentieth century.  In fact, at the time of his beatification in 1837, the life prepared for that process (which is available online) specifically calls him "terziario," a member of the Third Order, not a lay brother.


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.

Humbert of Romans Codex (1254) of Dominican Liturgy Available

Title Page of the Humbert Codex

Now that the defective files have been fixed and tested, I am again pleased to announce that through the kindness of one of my Dominican brothers, I can now make available for download a color digital version of the Master of the Order's version of the so-called Humbert Codex.  This manuscript (Rome: Santa Sabina MS XIV L1) is the prototype for the medieval (and early-modern) Dominican Liturgy.  The image to the left is the title page of this manuscript which lists its title and  contents:
Ecclesiasticum Officium secundum Ordinem Fratrum Praedicatorum; in hoc Volumine per Quatuordecim Libros Distinctum hoc Ordine Continetur:

1. Ordinarium
2. Martyrologium
3. Collectarium
4. Processionarium
5. Psalterium
6. Breviarium
7. Lectionarium
8. Antiphonarium
9. Graduale
10. Pulpitarium
11. Missale Conventuale
12. Epistolarium
13. Evangelistarium
14. Missale Minorum Altarium

This manuscript was compiled by the Master of the Order Humbert of Romans in accord with the commission of the Dominican General Chapter of  Buda in 1254 and approved by the General Chapter of Paris in 1256.  Except for additional feasts and the Psalter Reform of St. Pius X, the texts of this document were authoritative as the prototype for our liturgical books.  A copy of this prototype manuscript, which is now at Oxford University was carried by masters of the Order during visitations to correct the books of our houses.  This original and that copy are the only complete versions of the text that remain.

Those who would like copies of the images for each of the parts may download them as zip files on the left sidebar under the heading "Dominican Chant Books--Downloadable."  I have divided the files so that they are not excessively large (they total 2.8 gigabytes).   Even, so some of these files, especially those with lots of music, like the Graduale and the Antiphonarium are very large.  So do be patient as they download.

Before the listing of the files, there is also a link to download the typescript index

Dominican Stabat Mater

Nuns Singing in the Bologna MS

As Good Friday is approaching and many churches sing the Stabat Mater at Stations of the Cross, I thought it would be suitable to reprint the transcription of the text and music of a thirteenth-century version of the Stabat Mater, recently discovered by Prof. Cesarino Ruini in a manuscript that once belonged to a convent of Dominican Nuns in Bologna, Italy, and on which I have already posted. A miniature of the Bologna nuns, from their manuscript, decorates this post.

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.

Jubilee Pilgrimage to the Tomb of St. Dominic, Bologna

Incense and Thuribles in the Dominican Rite

This post was occasioned by several questions from Dominican students of my province and pictures of a recent Dominican Rite Missa Cantata in the Dominican Central Province.   So I think this summary of Dominican Thurible Etiquette is timely.

I have occasionally commented that the Dominican and Roman practices concerning incense are often quite different.  So I thought readers might appreciate an overview of traditional Dominican usage.  The beautiful Gothic thurible to the right is virtually identical to the anniversary thurible at St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland CA, our House of Studies.

A. Occasions when Incense is Used.

1. Although properly a Solemn Mass (with deacon and subdeacon) would normally be said every day in a priory with sufficient numbers, not all Solemn Masses use incense.  Incense is used at the Gospel, Offertory, and Elevation on all Sundays and Third Class (previously Simplex) feasts and above.  It is not used on ferials or at Requiems (except at the Absolution after Mass).

2. Incense is also used at Missae Cantatae on those days.  In fact, a recognition of this practice was requested by the Order and received from the Congregation of Rites every five years up to Vatican II to settle doubts about this practice. Today incense is universally used.  Although it is not required at Missae Cantatae.

3. The altar is traditionally incensed during the Gospel Canticle of Lauds and Vespers on those days as well.

B. How the Thurifer Handles the Censer when Loading it.

Although in parishes, perhaps because of the number of available altarboys, it was and is common practice for the thurifer to be accompanied by a boat-bearer, this was not the case in the conventual Mass.  And, as the priest in our rite never handles the spoon, this required certain techniques that seem complicated but are actually very simple.The presence of a boat-bearer actually complicates the handling of incense.  This method is used (at the sedilla) in preparation for the Gospel and at the Epistle Side of the altar in preparation for the Offertory. The thurible used must be a conventional one with a cover that can be pulled up the three outside chains using a center chain.

When entering before the Gospel, the thurifer holds the chains near the disk (or the disk ring) with the little finger of the left hand; with his left forefinger and thumb he holds the boat (which must have a little pedestal base).  With his right hand he holds the chains just above the cover, holding the thurible at about waist height on his right side. This is how he always holds the thurible when it is not in use: it is never carried or held with the chain at full length, except during the singing of the Gospel, as will be explained below. As the Alleluia or Tract begins, he approaches the priest.  He lowers the thurible and, with his right hand, pulls up the center chain ring and hooks it on the ring finger of his left hand.  This will raise the thurible cover about four or five inches: more than enough to get access to the coals.  Then, with his right hand, he grasps the four chains just above the cover and raises them up so that he can grasp them with the last three fingers of his left hand.

The open thurible is now at waist height, and the thurifer's right hand is free.  With it, he opens the boat, and takes out a spoonful of incense.  He offers this to the priest, saying, "Benedicite."  The priest blesses the incense, the thurifer responding "Amen." The thurifer then puts the incense in the censor, places the spoon back in the boat, closes the boat, and takes the chains off the three fingers of the left hand, letting the chains extend completely.  He then takes the center chain ring off the left ring finger and lowers the cover of  the thurible.  He then takes the chains just above the cover with his right hand, so as to assume the position for holding or walking with the thurible.  One should note that the sliding ring around the chains, if present, is never pushed down onto the cover of the thurible.  It remains at mid-point of the chains at all times.  If it is pushed down, these movements would be hindered or impossible. This sounds complicated, but once the movements have been executed a couple of times, nothing could seem more natural.

C. Other Rules Governing the Thurible.

1. When the thurible is carried, whether there is incense lighted in it or not, it is never held with the full chain extended.  It is held or carried as explained above.  This means that the chains are in the proper position if the thurible is to be given to a major minister to hand to the priest.  If the thurifer is to hand the thurible to the priest himself, he must reverse his hands first--so that the priest will receive the thurible correctly oriented for use.  This manner of holding the censer renders it less visible and mobile, and so less distracting.  I also solves the usual awkwardness of genuflecting with the chain fully extended.

2. The thurifer never swings the censer back and forth (supposedly to keep the coals burning) as is usually done in the Roman Rite. Again, this prevents the object from distracting attention from the liturgical activities in process.

3. There is only one occasion when the thurible is held is held with the full chain extension (and again by the left hand).  This is during the chanting of the Gospel.  And, again, there is no swinging of the thurible.  This would distract attention from the Gospel.

4. When the thurifer (or priest or deacon) incenses, this is done without any swinging of the censer during the ductus.  Thus there is no chain-clanking.  The motion is straight up and down, entirely silent.  Dominican incensing is always silent: it should not distract from the music or the liturgical actions it embellishes.

5. The incensing of the deacon and subdeacon, as well as of the two acolytes, is done by the thurifer during the Preface.  The minsters face him in their positions: he gives the deacon two lifts of the censer; the subdeacon, one lift; and each acolyte, one lift, the senior acolyte first.  He then incenses each friar in choir: the provincial receives three lifts; each priest, two lifts; other friars, one lift.  Our liturgical books do not mention the incensing of the people because, as ours is a monastic rite, it is assumed they are absent.  But it is common in parishes to give each side of the congregation one lift, and the choir in the loft one life. The image to the left shows the thurifer in position for the Preface. The photo shows Fr. Joseph Fulton (RIP) celebrating Mass at St. Albert the Great Priory in the mid-1950s.  

D. Particularities in when incense is used in the Solemn Mass.

1. The thurible is NEVER carried in the entrance or exit procession. Nor is the Cross ever carried in these processions. The thurifer, boat-bearer, and crucifer do NOT participate in these processions: they sit in the sacristy (which is preferred) or sit uietly and unobtrusively in the sanctuary on the Gospel side until they have functions to perform.  For the thurifer, his first function is at the Gospel.

2. There is no incensing of the altar during the Officium (i.e. Introit) chant.

3. The priest directs the preparation of the censer for the Gospel while seated at the sedilla (the bench for the three major ministers) as explained above.  The priest never touches the spoon.  The thurifer stands throughout this ceremony.

4. The deacon incenses the Gospel book with three simple, silent, lifts of the thurible.  He then hands the incense back to the subdeacon, who hands it back to the thurifer.

Blessing of Incense at the Offertory

Position of the Thurifer after the Offertory

5. The incensing at the Offertory is simpler than in the Roman Mass. The deacon offers the incense to be blessed and then hands the priest he censer.  With it, he makes a single Sign of the Cross over the gifts. After this he raises and lowers the censer three times before the host and chalice (never lifting higher than his shoulder). If the tabernacle or Cross (or both) is present, he incenses it (them) with one set of three lifts.  If there are reliquaries, he makes a moderate bow, and from the center, without moving, he incenses as a group those on the Gospel side with two lifts, then those on the Epistle side with two lifts.  If there is only one reliquary on the altar, he incenses it with two lifts.  Making a profound bow, he then incenses with three lifts above he altar as he moves to the Epistle end, once toward each candlestick.  He lowers the censer and returns to the middle.  In the same way he incenses the top of the altar while while going to the Gospel end.  Then then returns incensing the lower part of the altar three times as he returns. He stops before the Cross to make a profound bow, then completes the three lifts of the lower part of the Epistle side. On arrival there he surrenders the thurible to the deacon.

6. The deacon incenses the priest (using three lifts), when he has finished incensing the altar at the Offertory. As he does the three lifts, the deacon lifts the front of the priest's chasuble so as to incense under it---this prevents any sparks from landing on the chasuble and damaging it. The incensing of the other ministers is done by the thurifer during the Preface, as already explained. At the left you can see the deacon (Fr. Paul Raftery) holding up the chasuble and incensing as Fr. Anthony-M. Patalano elevates the chalice during Solemn Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Portland OR in the 1990s.

The deacon incenses at the Elevation

 7. Just before the Consecration, the thurifer, who is kneeling between the acolytes at the foot of the altar, loads the censer with unblessed incense.  He then passes it up to the deacon, who incenses the Sacred Species continuously during each elevation.  He then passes it back to the thurifer who rises, genuflects and leaves for the sacristy, as he has no functions during the rest of Mass.

E. The Thurifer at the Missa Cantata

1. The thurifer sits in the sanctuary or (more properly) stays in the sacristy until the priest prepares the chalice after the Epistle.  As the priest begins to pass to the north side of the altar for the Gospel, he turns and faces the Epistle side of the altar.  This signals to the thurifer to arrive and come up the front of the altar steps to meet the priest at the center as he passes over. (See the positions of the priest and thurifer in the image of the Solemn Mass Offertory above.) He there receives the blessing of the incense for the Gospel, descends and leads the acolytes around the corner of the steps for the Gospel.

2. At the Offertory, when the priest makes a half-turn, as at the Gospel, the thurifer comes up the front of the altar steps with the censor for the priest's blessing of it before he incenses of the altar.  The thurifer then goes and stands at the Epistle side. The incensing over, the thurifer receives the censer back, incenses the priest with three lifts, and goes to the center of the sanctuary and waits.  He incenses the acolytes in order of seniority with one lift, the community (using the number of lifts explain for the solemn Mass, and possibly the people, all during the Preface, as at Solemn Mass.

3. The Thurifer then stands in the center, when the acolytes are to kneel in the canon, kneels in center of the first step as the acolytes ascend for the elevations.  He puts unblessed incense in the thurible if needed.  He then incenses the elevations continuously as the deacon would at Solemn Mass.  His work finished, he rises, genuflects and departs to the sacristy.

Dominican Rite and Chant in Toulouse

During the coming year, 2016, the Order of Preachers will be celebrating our 800th anniversary.  Throughout the world the various provinces will be sponsoring celebratory events.  One of these, that would be of interest to readers of this blog will occur in Toulouse, France.  It is:

 Célébrations de la création de l'Ordre Dominicain:

Sessions  de  chant  et  concerts

Events of interest include:

13th-Century Dominican Chant

Lectures on Dominican Chant and Liturgy by  Marcel Pérès (throughout the year).

Office of St. Dominic in Dominican Chant (Jan. 28, 2016)

Mass of Pentecost in the Dominican Rite (May 16, 2016)

Office of St. Thomas Aquinas (Jan. 28, 2017)

Classes and Study Circles on the Chant (throughout the year.

The program (in French) and enrollment form can be downloaded in PDF format here.

On the same topic, I am pleased to announce that Saturday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 am in the Basilica of St. Mary (Minneapolis), there will be a Missa Cantata in the Dominican Rite celebrated by Fr. Dominic Holtz, O.P., professor of theology at the Angelicum University in Rome.  More information my be found here.

Recent Discoveries on the Origins of the Stabat Mater

Nuns Singing in the Bologna MS

On this feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, formerly the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, I thought it would be suitable to present to our readers a transcription of the text and music of a thirteenth-century version of the Stabat Mater, recently discovered by Prof. Cesarino Ruini in a manuscript that once belonged to a convent of Dominican Nuns in Bologna, Italy, and on which I have recently posted. A miniature of the Bologna nuns, from their manuscript, decorates this post.

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.

Dominican Nuns Make the New York Times!

My friends and sisters, the Dominican Nuns of Summit NJ  have just been featured in the New York Times Style Section.

I am not going to summarize the lovely article since you can read it yourself here. They have been experiencing over the past decade a surge in vocations, also described in the article.

Many readers know them for their famous soaps. Liturgically, they are well-know for their excellent hymnal, The Summit Choirbook.

Dominican Rite Sacramental Absolution Wallet Cards

I am happy to announce to Dominican Priest readers that Dominican Liturgy Publications is making available wallet-size plastic laminated cards with the Latin formula for Sacramental Absolution according to the Dominican Rite. An image of the front side of the longer Absolution card is to the right. Note that, because of the conversion needed to make the JPG image, a red cross come out as a red square.  On the actual cards that figure is a Cross. Sorry the JPG is a bit fuzzy.

There are two cards.  One has the longer four-part absolution that I described here.  The other has the "short" absolution for use when there are many confessions or when time is short, as well as the "very short form" for use when there is danger of death and a special form for use during a Jubilee. Each card is two-sided. The cards are available two ways.

If you simply want the PDFs themselves to double-side print and laminate yourself, you can download them here and here. There is no charge for these PDFs.

Or you can order the laminated cards themselves.  In that case, mail me by U.S. post a self-addressed stamped envelope and $4.00. (This is the cost of printing and lamination.) I will make the cards and mail them back to you.The address to which you mail your order is:

Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., Editor-in-Chief
Dominican Liturgy Publications.
5890 Birch Court
Oakland, CA  94618

Seraphicus Pater . . . Apostolicus Pater: A Devotion to Sts. Dominic and Francis

Every once in a while I get an email asking where to find the text and music of the Devotion to Saints Dominic and Francis traditionally sung during the thanksgiving after the main meal on those saints' respective feasts.  There is a old tradition of Dominicans inviting the local the Franciscans to dinner on the Feast of St. Dominic and the Franciscans inviting the local Dominicans on the Feast of St. Francis, and this chant was part of those festivities.  So this text is also known to Franciscans.

I remember hearing it back when I was a novice back in the 1970s, but could never find a copy.  A couple days ago, I was looking for a chant in the Processionarium S.O.P. and there it was in the appendix!  So I made up a version that can be downloaded here.

The text is actually an antiphon: Seraphicus Pater Franciscus et Apostolicus Pater Dominicus: ipsi nos docuerunt legem tuam, Domine.  ("Seraphic Father Francis and Apostolic Father Dominic: they taught us your law, O Lord."), sung with the Psalm 117 and a Gloria Patri.  The music is simply the Dominican Rite Psalm Tone VI.  So it is not at all hard to learn.  When the chant is sung on the Feast of St. Francis (at the Franciscan house), St. Dominic is named first.

St. Dominic's feast is coming up next month (August 4 in the traditional calendar, August 8 in the new calender), so this good time to make this chant available.

Index of Antiphons for Dominican Rite Chant Books

Dominican Sisters Chanting the Office

I am pleased to announce that we are making available on our left sidebar an Index of  the Antiphons found in the chant books of the Dominican Rite.  This index will be useful for those seeking the Dominican music for antiphons to use in the new Roman rite, as well as those who want to compare the Dominican music with Benedictine, Roman, or other Latin religious order Rites.  The closest relative to Dominican chant is that of the Premon-stratensians, both of which are derived mostly from Cistercian models.

Modern Roman-Benedictine chant books often have indices for the various chants, but the most important Dominican chant books for the Office—the Antiphonarium of 1863 (with night office), the Antiphonarium of 1933 (no night office, post-Pius X psalter), and the Matins book of 1936 (major feasts)—have never been indexed or the index is found in a separate, hard-to-find, pamphlet.  All the antiphons of these books are in our new index.  This index also includes all the antiphons found in the Dominican Processional, the Holy Week Books of 1949 and 1963, the Gradual, and the Compline book.

The links to the index are available here at Dominican Liturgy on the left sidebar under Dominican Rite Texts—Downloadable.  The text of the first version is numbered straight through; that of the second is arranged in booklet format for double-sided printing.

Note: The Dominican cloistered sisters of Prato (the community of St. Catherine de' Ricci, O.P.) are wearing white veils and no scapulars because they were and are technically members of the lay penitents ("Third Order"), not nuns ("Second Order").