Prostration on the Forms

The practice of Prostratio in Formis ("prostration on the forms"), or simply Prostratio ("prostration"), is probably as old as the Dominican Order and rubrics on it are found in the Ordinary of the Humbert Codex (1256), the codification of the Dominican Rite. The rubrics on this rite were codified in their modern form in the Jandel Caeremoniale of 1869, nn. 781ff., which I will outline. Prostration on the Forms is made by kneeling, with the capuce raised, in the choir stall and bowing over the kneeler of the stall, with the head inclined. You can see this gesture in the image to the right, which shows the practice in a French Dominican house during the 1950s. When there is no "form" or kneeler, the gesture is made by kneeling on the ground and bowing low.

The use of prostration on the forms continued in the Dominica Rite until the reforms of 1963, when the prostration was replaced by simple kneeling. At that date the elaborate rubrics for raising and lowering the capuce were also abrogated. It is interesting that after the Order's adaption of the Roman Rite, the Proprium Ordinis Praedicatorum of 1982, which provides for elements of our ancient liturgy that may be retained in the New Roman Rite, we find in the section on the Liturgy of the Hours, in "Indicationes pro Celebrationibus Liturgicis," n. 38, on p. lxxxiv: Pro opportunitate, fratres in quibusdam occasionibus possunt etiam prostrationem facere. I might mention that I have never seen Prostration on the Forms used with the modern Office, but this rubric sanctions its use. There is nothing in the Proprium to indicate that it may be used at Mass. No specific occasions are given, but, if this practice is to be used, the traditional norms of Office may give some guide. For historical interest, however, I will describe the use of Prostrations for Mass as well as Office in the traditional rite.

Prostration, like kneeling, has, in the Order and the Church, a dual meaning. It is a penitential gesture of humiliation, as modern liturgists never ceasing reminding us, but it is also a gesture of adoration, without any penitential significance. Its use reflects that dual quality both as to liturgical days and parts of the liturgy. Most generally, Prostration was used for adoration or humiliation, outside of festive seasons. This means that, in general, it was used on Ferials outside of Easter time. It was never used on Sundays from Vespers to Vespers, even in Lent--when it was used on all other days, even solemnities, like the Annunciation. It was omitted on the ferials when the O Antiphons were sung and, oddly, during the Solemn Litanic Preces of Lauds during the Easter Triduum. It was also done (outside the forms in the middle of choir) as a gesture of respect by the reader after completion of the readings at Matins.

Prostration as a penitential gesture, with no variation for the seasons, was practiced in various other rituals: during the recitation of the Seven Penitential Psalms, at the giving of the General Absolution for infractions of the Rule and Constitutions (which do not bind under sin). It was also the posture for receiving the Discipline, As an act of adoration, it was employed when the Sacrament was removed from the tabernacle in the pyx until it was restored, and when it was carried in procession past the friars, whether in or outside of choir. It was also used at General Commuions during Mass, and at all Communions outside of Mass (I have discussed this ritual in part five of an earlier post on the Solemn Mass). As a gesture of adoration, it was also done during the singing of the Passion at the mention of the Death of Christ, and at the Liturgy of Good Friday, during the singing of the Ecce Lignum Crucis, which is only sung once in our Rite.

At Solemn Mass. On Ferials inside and outside of Lent, except in Easter season, the prostration was made during the Opening Collect and the Postcommunion Collect at Solemn Mass, otherwise the friars simply bowed. During Lent (except Sundays) and all vigils (except those of Christmas and Epiphany), from the completion of the singing of the Sanctus until the Agnus Dei, those in choir prostrated on the forms. This was not only an act of adoration and humility, but also an act of self-denial since it meant that the friars could not look up to see the Elevation. I suspect that this long prostration was the original practice during the Consecration. The Elevation of the Host is first witnesses in Paris in 1205. The Dominican Rite add the Elevation of the Chalice only in the late 1200s. The introduction of the Elevations was to provide visual contact with the Blessed Sacrament, and our rubrics provide for this. Outside of the times just listed, the prostration was made only from after the Elevation of the Chalice until the singing of the Pater Noster. I might add that the celebrating priest and other ministers never made the Prostration during Mass.

At Divine Office. In the Ferial Office, the Prostration was made: 1. During the silent Pater and Credo preceding Office; 2. At the doxology after Deus in Adiutorium; 3. At the Preces (including the Pater Noster) before the Final Collect; 4. During the Confiteor at Compline and Prime. Dominicans who want to incorporate this ancient practice in the modern Liturgy of the Hours following the suggestion of the Proprium, might first consider its use at the Confiteor of Compline (where the Proprium already specifies kneeling) and then during the Intercessions and Our Father at Lauds and Vespers in Lent. This does not, of course, exclude other possibilities.

Dominican Rite Missa Cantata at San Buenaventura Mission CA

First a picture of San Buenaventura Mission in Ventura, California. This mission has had Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite for a good number of years at 1:30 p.m. on Sundays. For the last two or so, Fr. Paul K. Raftery, O.P. a Dominican of the Western Dominican Province and chaplain at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula has been supplying there, celebrating the traditional Dominican Rite Mass.









In this photo see the interior of the Mission with a view of the High Altar, prepared for a Missa Cantata in the Dominican Rite on Sunday April 27, the day traditionally called the Fourth Sunday after the Octave of Easter in the Domnican Rite.

This image shows Fr. Paul at the Epistle Side after the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. This is his position during the reading of the Officium (as we call the Introit), the Kyrie, the Gloria, Collect, Epistle, and the intervening chants. Fr. Paul read all of these quietly as the schola sang them, except for the Collect and the Epistle, which he himself chanted according to the Dominican tone. We only have one tone for the Epistle and it is similar to that found in the Roman books as "an ancient authentic tone." As this is a Mass in Easter time the two chants are both Alleluias.

In the Missa Cantata according to our Rite, the chalice is prepared at the altar as Fr. Paul is doing here, while the choir sings the intervening chants. In the Solemn Mass, it is prepared at this point, but by the ministers at the sedilla (the single bench used by all three major ministers in our Rite). The famous Dominican preparation of the chalice before the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar is only done in the Low Mass.

In this image, Fr. Paul has moved to the Gospel side of the altar to sing the Gospel. We have only one Gospel tone, and it is similar to one of the Roman ones. After this, Fr. Paul preached his sermon.

Here we see the genuflection at the Incarnatus est of the Creed, which Fr. Paul has been reading quietly as it was sung by the choir and congregation. Normally the priest in the Dominican Rite moves to the center of the altar to make this genuflection, but it is not unknown for him to do it more Romano at the book, as Father does here. In our books there is actually only one truly Dominican Credo, it is similar to the Roman Credo I.

Here the thurifer is incensing Father Paul at the Offertory. The thurifer will incense the two acolytes during the singing of the Sanctus. If this were a Solemn Mass, that would also be the time when he would incense the deacon and subdeacon. Our Offertory is made in a single oblation of Host and Chalice together. And, of course, the chalice has already been prepared at the intervening chants.

Here Fr. Paul is reading the Sanctus and about to begin the Canon as the choir and congregation sing. At this point a Sanctus Candle (or several) may be lighted. You can see it as the very small candle between the last two o nthe Epistle side in this photo.

The Elevation of the Host. In the Dominican Rite the Sanctus and Benedictus are properly sung together, so after the elevations there is silence until the doxology of the Canon, even at a Missa Cantata.

After the elevations in our Rite, the priest extends his arms moderately to form a Cross, calling to mind the Sacrifice of Calvary, which is re-presented for us at Mass. This posture is maintained until the blessings at the end of the prayer Unde et memores, at which point the usual close orans posture is resumed. Note we do not extend our arms all the way in this cross posture, unlike the Carthusians and Carmelites (I believe).

Here we see the procession leaving the church. Unlike secular clergy who wear birettas in the traditional rite processions, the Dominican practice is to raise the capuce (here covered by the large Dominican style amice) coming in and going out.







And finally we close with a view from the back of Fr. Paul Rafterty, showing the capuce and amice.

I am told that the servers at the mission have gone through the trouble to learn two sets of responses, those for the Roman and those for the Dominican rite. They are to be congratulated and thanked.

Credit to California Roamin' Catholic for these lovely photographs.

New Compline Booklet Available Here!

I thank all the readers for the comments and questions that they have sent me by email or left in comment boxes. The orrected version of the Completorium Novum is now available. It is also available in format for printing as a booklet here. Links may also be found on our sidebar to the left. Most importantly, two musical problems were fixed. The Litany of Loreto is now cleaner, and I have added choir rubrics from Dominican Proprium (1982) to the introduction.

A number of questions and comments sent to me concern choices made in the compilation of this booklet, as to why I did nor did not include some piece of chant or text. My goal in this project was to include everything that is in the Liturgia Horarum for Compline exactly as it is modified by the official Properium Ordinis Praedicatorum of 1982. My hope wat that this would keep my personal taste out of the process as much as possible. Everything present in the normative Liturgia Horarum is included; anything changed or added by the Properium is changed or added. Nothing else is added, changed, or deleted. Options present in these texts are all present, but no others.

I received one gratifying piece of news, a student from one of the American Dominican provinces contacted me to let me know that they have downloaded the Completorium Novum in the booklet format and intend to start using it at Saturday Night Compline in their Studentate. Very gratifying!

I would still appreciate comments and corrections on this project, and I will do my best to address them. If you decide to use this book for singing Compline, I would be very pleased to here about how it works out.

How to Sing Dominican Chant

PART ONE: NOTATION

Those who know Gregorian music, especially with the so-called Solesmes marks, are often surprised when they first encounter printed versions (or on-line manuscript) versions of Dominican chant. The first thing they notice is the complete absence of the Solesmes marks: epistema, dot, ictus, etc. The next thing they notice is that there is no quilisma. The so-called "expressive neumes" are totally absent. Then there is that funny Dominican quarter bar: it is not on the top line of the staff, but moves up and down to the height of the note it follows. And the double bar appears where in the Roman books one expects an asterisk. Finally they notice that the liquescents often appear on diphthongs and liquid consonants where they are lacking in Roman music.

Modern Dominican books reproduce the shape of the neumes in the medieval manuscripts of our music, which were based on the Humbert of Roman Codex exemplar of 1254, which still exists as MS 1 in the Domincan Archives in Rome. In order to sing our music properly, cantors need to know the system of interpretation explained in the treatises of Jerome of Moravia (d. after 1271. probably Scottish), a Dominican musicologist, who codified traditional practice. An image of his treatise De Musica, copied at the beginning of every medieval Dominican Antiphonal, is at the top of this post. It is from the fourteenth-century Poissy Antiphonal.

His system for rhythm is presented in an accessible, albeit Latin, form in the Dominican Processionarium of 1949. The Dominican system of adapting psalm tones to the psalms found in that book was suppressed in 1965 with the publication of the post-Vatican II Regulae Cantus in favor of the Benedictine method, although the Dominican melodies of the tones were left unchanged. But for all other chants, the thirteenth-century system continues in use today, in continuity with the living tradition of chant extending in an unbroken line back to the earliest days of the Order. The most important section of the Regulae Cantus for interpreting the chant is Section III, "De pausis et earum signis et proportione." I have adapted that section for use by choirs, and will present it in another post, but first singers need to know certain things.

1. Dominican and Gregorian neumes mean the same thing as to relative pitch on the staff as indicated by the clef. Those who do not know how to read neumes and what their names are, should consult the many books and on-line aids that explain this before reading any further.

2. In our chant, the two liquescents (the Ephiphonus and the Cephalicus) normally indicate a diphthong or liquid consonant. Since, in normal speech, the two sounds of the diphthong slur into a single vowel and the liquid is a semi-vowel merging into the following or preceding vowel, the two notes in these neumes do not get equal length. In these neumes the small note in each is given about half the length of the larger. The same is done for liquescents even when they do not indicate a diphthong or liquid. A careful student will notice that we regularly use liquescents where Benedictine and Roman music has the two sounds of a diphthong sung on two distinct puncta, e.g., the separation of the "e" and "i" of the "ei" in Eleison.

3. The double bar in our system has two uses. They are very different and have some variations. Here they are:

3A. Most commonly, the double bar indicates the end of a major phrase, at which one side of the choir stops singing, and the other side takes over, following the traditional system (not only Dominican) of "antiphonal singing." This meaning is especially common in Kyries where the last Kyrie is sung by one choir, then the other, then both together. This shift is indicated in Roman books by asterisk and double asterisk. We use double bars. This use of the double bar also indicates a lengthening of the last syllable(s) of the phrase according to a system I will explain later.

3B. The double bar also appears at the beginning of a chant, after the first word or couple of words: there it indicates where the choir comes in to join the cantor who has intoned the piece. It functions like the asterisk in Roman chant. In this case, it does NOT indicate any lengthening of the previous notes.

3C. An interesting variant of this is found in Dominican books for the Gloria. There is one double bar to indicate the end of the priest's intonation phrase: "Gloria in excelsis Deo." But then there is another double bar at the end of "et in terra pax," an odd place to put it. This phrase belongs to the cantor. The choir comes in after that second double bar on the word "hominibus." Why? Many priests cannot sing for beans. They will foul up the intonation, but in the old rite they had to do it. So, the choir ignored what the priest sang and waited to hear the correct pitch and melody from the first cantor. Many priests simply recto-toned their intonation. The Gloria is the only place where this system is used.

4. Expressive neumes and quilisma do not exist in Dominican music. They did not exist as far as I know in any thirteenth-century chant manuscript. The expressive neumes are the product of Solesmes theorists. The quilisma is founded on the appearance, at certain places in the pre-staff notation, of a kind of fuzzy squiggle. There have been long debates over what it meant. My personal opinion is that it originally indicated the half-step and had no phrasing significance. Prof. William Mahrt of the CMAA, with whom I have discussed this, says that is very possible I am right, although he thinks it indicated a light vibrato. Good news! None of this matters for those singing Dominican chant because we don't have any of these flourishes.

PART TWO: RHYTHM

The most debated and controversial issue in performance of Gregorian Chant since its nineteenth-century revival has been the issue of rhythm. The earliest manuscripts with Gregorian music have no staff and so present grave problems of interpretation for pitch and intervals. But they do have a whole series of other marks that in part seem to indicate phrasing and rhythm. Manuscripts after the eleventh century have a staff with a clef to indicate "do" or "fa" and so solve the interval problem, but they seem to have little or anything to indicate phrasing and rhythm.

The modern science of musical semeiotics has attempted to resolve this problem. The Solesmes marks and system(s) allow an interpretation of both pitch and rhythm. What I am about to describe is how Dominicans have dealt with the problem of rhythm since the 1200s. I do not claim that this system is "better" than any of the modern Solesmes methods, including that of Dom Mocquereau, currently in favor with workshops sponsored by the Church Music Association of America. Those who want to sing Dominican music, however, cannot use that method because it depends on the presence of Solesmes marks, and these do not exist in our books.

Principles of Phrasing

As you read these principles, you can consult the sample image of various bars and neumes from the Processional, pasted here:

1. The most important determination of phrasing is the meaning of the Latin text. Dominicans break the text into what might be called longer phrases, and then break the longer phrases into shorter ones. This is the way we punctuate English. A period or semicolon indicates the end of a major phrase; the comma (or implicit unwritten "comma") indicates a "joint" between the shorter clauses.

2. The punctuation marks of Dominican chant are the double bar (A), the single bar (E), and the half bar (D). The quarter bar (C), which moves up and down, is NOT a punctuation mark. The single bar and double bar are very similar: both indicate a full stop and a point at which a full breath may be taken. The difference is that after a double bar, the other choir takes up the new phrase; the same choir continues to sing after the single bar. In small choirs it is common not to alternate between choirs. In that case, both of these bars are treated the same way--although it is common to make the pause after the double bar a bit longer since it sometimes (as in hymns) indicates a new stanza. The half bar indicates a minor break or joint in the phrase. The pause is shorter and a short breath may be taken.

3. The quarter bar is not a rest or a break; its function is similar to the Solesmes dot. It serves ONLY to lengthen the previous note. No breath is taken at a quarter bar. There is no break in the phrase. Back at choir practice in our Western Dominican House of Studies in Oakland during the 1970s, this was called the "don't breath here bar." Some people even cancelled them out with a pencil and put in a dot instead. Although lazy singers often took a breath at quarter bars (and the lengthening of the previous note tended to cover this), it is very bad form and ruins the phrasing. It is better for people to stagger their gasps for breath at any place other than a quarter bar.

4. Although it is not noted in the music by any mark, singers "take off" (slightly accelerate) as they begin a phrase, and "make a landing" (slowly retard) as they end the phrase. They do this in a more delicate way in the minor phrases ended by half bars. This acceleration and retard is so delicate that it should be hardly noticeable, just as the similar change in velocity is hardly noticeable in ordinary speech.

5. Singers hold the syllable(s) that precede the bar, be it a double, single, half, or quarter bar. This is distinct from the gentle progressive retard of the "landing." The proper way to do this is to slow down, hold, and taper off in volume so as to let the note fade away. Avoid, at all costs, staccato stops.

6. In music with one neume per syllable, the number of syllables held is determined by accented (or virtually accented) syllable.

6A. Lengthen the last syllable before the bar if the word there a monosyllable (e.g., "te").

6B. If the word has more than one syllable (e.g., "nobis"), and the penult (second to last) is accented, lengthen that and the final syllable.

6C. If two syllables follow the accented one (e.g, "Dominus"), lengthen the last syllable only: it is considered "virtually accented."

6D. So, you never lengthen more than two syllables.

6E. Finally, if you are singing a hymn, sequence, or other music with a poetic meter, ignore these rules and lengthen ONLY the last syllable of the line.

7. In melismatic chants, i.e., those with more than one note per syllable, lengthen only the last neume or part of a neume.

7A. If the last syllable of the last word is melismatic and the penult is a simple punctum, you lengthen only the last syllable, even if the penult is accented. Conversely, if the if the last syllable has a punctum and the penult is melismatic, you lengthen only the last syllable, even if the penult is accented.

7B. When the last syllable has or ends with a two-note neume, e.g. a podatus or a clivus ( see B above), lengthen both notes of that neume.

7C. When the last syllable has a meume with three or more notes (see F above), lightly retard but hold only the last note in the neume.

7D. In very melismatic music, such as Alleluias and Responsories, there will be a part of the multi-note neume at the end, usually a clivus, podatus, or torculus. This part of the neume is often detached, as is the case in B and F above. Hold that part of the neume only, using rules 7B amd 7C.

8. Strive to sing all chant legato. This is very important to phrasing. At the end of all phrases avoid staccato stops. Let your voice volume taper off to silence. Do not gasp for breath; if necessary, stagger your breathing.

That's all there is to the system. It may seem more complex than having the Solesmes marks to tell you what to do, but, in fact, it is very natural and intuitive. And it seems, from writers like Jerome, that all thirteenth-century singers of chant sang this way, or in a very similar way. So, now you twentieth-century singers can sing the music in the new Roman liturgical books like the Missal, where there are no Solesmes marks!

PART THREE: AN EXAMPLE
The Salve Regina

If you do not have the French Dominican C-D Dominican Chant-Dominican Liturgy, which has the example discussed on track 20, you can order it using the link on the sidebar to the left.

Here is the music of the famous Dominican Salve Regina used all year after Compline, taken from the Antiphonarium. Take a look at it and I will apply the principles of phrasing I explained earlier. If you have the French Dominican recording of this, you might listen along as you read, in it you can hear how the phrasing and the lengthening of ending notes merge into an organic whole. They are also very good on distinguishing the strong retards at the end of major phrases from the lesser ones of the shorter clauses that make them up. To allow you to consult the rules given in the last post, I will reference them in brackets as I comment.

Phrase 1 "Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae.

This is a major phrase with a break in the middle after Regina indicated by the half bar. So the major rhythmic phrase is the whole verse and there are two minor phrases [rules 1, 2]. The take-off begins on Salve and the landing on "ae" of misericordiae. There is a light touch down on "na" of Regina because of the half bar. This kind of subtle articulation is always observed in the rest of the antiphon at the various breaks, so I will not repeat it [rule 4].

There are no "true" double bars in the antiphon Salve Regina until its end because it is traditionally sung by all, not alternately by choirs. That first "double bar," after Salve, does no more than indicate the place to which the cantor sings and at which all come in. There is no lengthening of "ve" since this double bar represents merely that the choir comes in. The clivus on "na" of Regina is lengthened, but not the melisma on "ce" of dulcedo because even though "ce" is accented, it has a compound neume [rule 7A]. The same is true of misericordia, where "cor" is accented, but the second to last note is melismatic: so only the simple neume on "ae" is lengthened [rule 7A].

Phrase 2: "Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve."

This major phrase has joints after Vita and dulcedo, indicated by the half bars. The mark after nostra is a quarter bar--equals a Solesmes dot, not a phrasing mark, so it does not divide a phrase and no breath is to be taken [rule 3]. The final syllables "ta" "do" and "ve" are lengthened, but not any previous notes because the previous notes are all melismatic [rule 7A]. The melismatic neume on "tra" of nostra is lengthened because of the quarter bar, but only on the two notes of the podatus [rule 7B].

Phrase 3: "Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae."

This major phrase has a joint after clamamus indicated by the half bar. Notice the two quarter bars. The compound neume on Ad ends in a Ephiphonus, which scants the smaller note. The quarter bar lengthens te but without pausing or breath [rule 6a]. Only "mus" of clamamus and the "vae" of Hevae are lengthened because the previous accented syllables have melismas [rule 7a]. The last two notes of the porrectus on "les" of exsules are lengthened without a pause because of the quarter bar [rule 7B].

Phrase 4: "Ad te . . . valle" contains nothing new. Apply rule 6A to te, 7A to clamamus, 7B to hac, and 7A to valle.

Phrase 5: "Eja ergo advocata nostra."

The phrase is jointed after ergo by the half bar. The odd looking podatus over the "E" of Eja is composed of a regular punctum and the large note of the liquescent Chephalus because the "j" is a semivowel: but this has no affect on phrasing. Notice the liquescent Ephiphonus on "er" of ergo because r is a liquid. Because that Ephiphonus is a compound neume only the "go" is lengthened by the half bar, even though "er" is the accented syllable [rule 7A]. In contrast, nostra is a bi-syllable with simple neumes on each one: so since "nos" is accented, both syllables are lengthened [rule 6B].

Phrase 6: "illos tuos . . . converte."

There is nothing new here except the lengthening of the last note only of the neume on "los" of oculos because it is a three-note neume [rule 7C]. Otherwise, apply 7A on tuos, 7B on misericordes, and 7A on converte.

Phrase 7a: "Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis . . ."

This is routine: apply 7B on Jesum, 7A on fructum, tui, and nobis. The next part of this phrase has items of interest. Here it is with the rest of the antiphon:

Phrase 7b: "post hoc exilium ostende."

Note the lengthening of both notes of the clivus on "um" of exilium by the quarter bar, even though "si" is the accented syllable [rule 7B]. Notice also the big note (without the small) of a Ephiphonus on "sten" of ostende because "n" is a liquid--but this has no effect on singing. Both "sten" and "de" are lengthened here because they have simple neumes and "sten" is accented [rule 6B].

Phrases 8-9: "O clemens" and "o pia": nothing new. Apply 7B to both of the Os; apply 7A to clemens and pia.

Phrase 10: "o dulcis virgo Maria."

The joint in the phrase is at the half bar, which is actually in the middle of the notes on O. Note the quarter bar along with that half bar in the melisma on O. The quarter bar, as usual, lengthens the last two notes of the first neume on O without a pause or break [rule 7B]. The next neume on O after the quarter bar is lengthened only on its last note by the half bar because it has four notes [rule 7C]. Although it might seem bad form in Benedictine chant, we Dominicans normally take a small pause and a little breath, here at the half bar before attacking the rising notes that complete the melody on O, which are not lengthened because no bar follows. (Those with the French recording will notice that the French Dominicans manage to sing this without taking a breath here--a particular interpretation which may reflect a variant in the Competorium book.) The phrasing joint in this passage comes here in the middle of the run on the O. This is a not uncommon practice in Dominican chant, especially in Responsoria. Perhaps it is a concession to less disciplined non-French friars who, unlike monks, cannot sing through long runs in a single breath.

On dulcis, note the liquescent because of the "l" and that only the podatus is lengthened by the quarter bar [rule 7B]. There is a one note liquescent on "Vir" because of the "r". Finally, note that only the two notes of clivus on "a" of Maria are lengthened not the neume on the previous accented syllable [rule 7B].

Phase 11: the Alleluia.

The antiphon normally ends with Maria, so there is a double bar after it, but in Paschal time the Alleluia is added. Since there is no choir change before the Alleluia, the double bar magically equals a single bar. There are two things to notice in the Alleluia: the lengthening of the two notes of the clivus on "lu" by the quarter bar [rule 7B], with, as usual, no breath or pause before adding the last three notes. Finally, "ia" has a clivus, both notes of which are lengthened, but not the podatus on the accented syllable [rule 7B].

I hope this clarifies the rules given in my previous posts. If you notice any errors in my cross references, let me know. I think I typed them all out correctly.

Dominican Compline and its Processions

I. Compline in the Dominican Rite

Those who would like to see the music that I will describe in this post may do so on the sidebar link to "Antiphonarium S.O.P. (Gillet 1933)," consulting pp. 83-135.

Perhaps the most famous liturgy of the Dominican Office is that of Compline, and its format shows that the Dominican Office is in origin that of canons, not monks. This is indicated by the presence of the canticle of Simeon, the Nunc Dimittis (Lk 2: 29-32), at the end before the Collect, an element missing from the Benedictine Office, but found in the Roman. Compline, and especially the Procession that followed it, is the subject of so many stories of visions and miracles in Dominican lore that it was the one element of the choir Office not dispensed by the so-called lector's privilege.

That privilege, which dates back to the days of St. Dominic himself, exempted friars holding the "lectorate in sacred theology" and involved in full-time writing and teaching, as well as those appointed "preachers provincial" or "preachers general," and involved in full-time preaching, from attendance at the daily choral Office and sung conventual Mass. They where permitted to recite the Office privately, along with saying their private masses. Lectors and preachers did, however, have to attend Compline, so much was it considered part of our spirituality. This privilege was abolished in 1968, during the reforms after Vatican II.

In its basic structure, Dominican Compline remained unchanged from the liturgical reform of Humbert of Romans (1256), until the adoption of the Roman Office in 1969, with the exception of the Psalms. Those who know the older Roman Office will recognize the structure. It began with the examination of conscience: the invocation Noctem quietam, the chapter Fratres sobrii, the verse Adiutorium nostrum, and the Confiteor in its short Dominican form by the prior and the community. Usually the confession was made standning and bowed profoundly, but during Lent, Ember Days, Vigils and other days of penance, it was done while "prostrate on the forms" as seen in this photo. The Proprium O.P. of 1982, which provided for Dominian elements to be included in the new Mass and Office allows the retention of this custom (n. 38c).

Then followed the Office itself: the verses Converte nos and Deus in adiutorium, the antiphon Miserere and Psalms 4, 30, 90, and 133; the chapter Tu in nobis, the short responsory In manus tuas, the hymn of the season (usually the Te lucis) with its verse Custodi; the Nunc Dimittis with its antiphon Salva nos; the short preces (if a feria), the collect Visita, and the blessing by the prior. I will discuss the Procession after Compline later. In 1922 we adapted the Psalter reform of Pius X and the traditional Psalms (minus Ps. 30) were relegated to Sunday. The other days of the week had the same cycle of Psalms as the revised Roman Office--with Roman antiphons when no Dominican variant could be found. Otherwise the traditional office remained intact.

In addition, Dominican Compline had rich temporal and sanctoral variations. In common with the Roman, we had a rich variety of melodies for the hymn Te Lucis, which varied according to the grade of the feast, the time of year, and the particular feast--usually paralleling hymn melodies from the major hours. In addition, this hymn had extra verses and doxologies, especially for Marian feasts, as did the hymn Christe qui lux (Lent) and Iesu nostra redemptio (Easter time). We also used the short response In manus tuas with alleluias on solemnities as well as in Easter time. Here is an example of the Te Lucis for Saturday evening, in my opinion one of the most beautiful of the melodies. It is from the famous fourteenth-century Poissy Antiphonal:



In addition to this, our Office provided a variety of proper and common antiphons. For the Psalms these not only include the triple Alleluia of Easter time, but also antiphons for Christmas Eve (Completi), Christmas Day (Natus est), Epiphany (Lux de luce), Purification (Sancta Dei), Annunciation (Ecce Virgo), and two versions of that for the other Marian feasts (Virgo Maria). The variety of antiphons for the Canticle of Simeon was even greater: Christmas Eve (Ecce completi), Purification (Nunc dimittis), Annunciation (Ecce ancilla), Lent (Evigila), Passiontide (O Rex), and Marian feasts (Corde et animo and Sub tuum).

The special Nunc Dimittis antiphon of Eastertide Alleluia, resurrexit Dominus, alleluia, sicut dixit vobis, alleluia, alleluia in mode 5 is paralleled in melody and structure by others using a scriptural verse and four alleluias: those of Christmas Day (Verbum caro factum), Epiphany (Omnes de Saba), Ascensiontide (Ascendens Christus), Pentecost (Spiritus Paraclitus) and Corpus Christi (Panem quem ego dedero). In 1948, one other antiphon on this model was created: Haurietis for the feast of the Sacred Heart. Here is example of this famous Alleluia chant, that for Easter, again from the Poissy Antiphonal:



During Lent on Saturdays, Sundays, and major feasts, the short response was replaced by the famous responsory, In pace. Every friar (yes, every friar) took a turn, in order of religion, singing that chant's verse, as the others sat and mediated (?). The same discipline applied to the responsory, Media vita, which was used as the "antiphon" for the Nunc Dimittis during the third and fourth weeks of Lent. This respond contains an interesting Latin version of the Trisagion. For those of us who are not great singers, its verse was mercifully simple and short. The In manus tuas of Passiontide, dropped, of course, the Gloria Patri; and was replaced in the Triduum by Christus factus (sung simply to Psalm tone 8b) and by the antiphon Haec dies on Easter Sunday to Tuesday.

Before you begin to think, how could the Dominicans have abandoned all this? You should know that we have not. According to the Proprium Officii Ordinis Praedicatorum (1983), which I mentioned earlier, all the chants I have mentioned have been approved for use with the new Liturgy of the Hours. The only major change is that the Media vita is now restored to its more logical use as a responsory. The proper also approved the use of the Dominican Confiteor for the examination of conscience. I know that English versions of many of these chants are use in the American Dominican Provinces, along with the original Latin versions. And now:

II. The Processions after Compline

Before I describe the ceremonies at the end of Compline in the Dominican Rite and the Liturgy of the Hours according to Dominican use, here is a link to a video of the Salve Procession at San Clemente in Rome, the Irish Dominicans, accompanied, on this occasion, by some visitors who can be recognized as they are not in Dominican habits. You will note how the procession moves from choir to the people's part of the church, has the genuflection at the traditional time, and the sprinkling with Holy Water.

Although Dominican Compline is musically and liturgically well known, perhaps even more famous is the procession by which it is traditionally followed. The institution of the singing of the Salve Regina after Compline, according to Bl. Jordan of Saxony, who witnessed the events, occurred in the Dominican priory of Bologna about 1221. A Brother Bernard had been tormented by doubts and temptations. Jordan, then Master of the Order, decided that the community would invoke the help of the Blessed Virgin through a penitential procession while singing the antiphon Salve Regina after Compline. Bernard was immediately freed of his tribulations and the practice was spontaneously imitated in Lombardy and then throughout the entire Order. The sprinkling of the friars with Holy Water by the prior or hebdomadarian was added at this time or soon after.

The Salve Regina (see Dominican version to the right), sung after Compline, is not original to the Dominicans. The Dominican melody is part of a family of twelfth-century variants on a more ancient melody, of which the solemn Roman-Benedictine, the Carthusian, and others are also examples. The antiphon itself dates to the late eleventh century and was in common use first among Benedictines and Cistercians. The Cistercians already used it as processional chant, before or after chapter meetings, in the 1210s. But its use for a procession to the people's part of the church is distinctively Dominican. Traditionally, in the Dominican Rite, the antiphon for the Virgin after Compline never varies, but is always the Salve Regina, but an alleluia is added to it and ti the verses following it during Easter time.

The ritual of the Salve Procession is as follows. On every day of the year (except Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Holy Week) two acolytes, wearing surplices and carrying candlesticks with lighted candles, took up their positions before the altar. For the intoning of the Salve, the entire community fell to their knees and remained kneeling until the word "Salve" had been finished; then the friars rose and went in procession behind the two acolytes to the outer church of the laity. There the brethren knelt in place facing the altar or shrine and were sprinkled with holy water by the hebdomadarian. By the late middle ages, the custom was introduced of the community also kneeling at the words: Eia ergo advocata nostra. The antiphon ended, the acolytes sang the versicle: Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata; to which the community responded: Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos. The final prayer Concede nos was the sung by the hebdomadarian.

By the fourteenth century, it become a common practice to sing the antiphon O lumen Ecclesiae, the Magnificat antiphon of the feast of St. Dominic, while returning in procession to the choir. The procession ended with the verses and the collect of St. Dominic. Like the Salve, this antiphon and its verses had alleluias in Easter time. But its use was never absolute. Some provinces and houses substituted the antiphon of another saint for the O Lumen.

Those interested in the way medieval music was put together will find the thirteenth-century antiphon O Lumen to have interesting similarity to another well-known piece of chant:


This kind of borrowing was very common in the middle ages, and in the modern period.

There are two other processions traditionally attached to Compline. The first, and best known, is the interpolation between the Salve and O Lumen of a Procession to the Holy Rosary Altar or shrine, while singing the Litany of Loreto. This procession is early modern in origin. The Litany concluded with the singing of the prosa Inviolata and the collect. In Easter time, the Inviolata was replaced by the Regina Caeli, sung to a Dominican version of the solemn tone. The other procession was on the first Tuesday of the month and also placed between the Salve and O Lumen. This is the Procession to the Altar of St. Dominic, during the singing of the prolix responsory O spem miram, which is taken from Matins of the saint. There two are not the only processions that local priories and provinces added to Compline, but they are the ones most commonly performed, even today.

Again, these chants have been preserved for use with the new Liturgy of the Hours according to the provisions of the Proprium Ordinis Praedicatorum of 1982. The use of the Salve throughout the year may be maintained, as well as, if desired, the procession and the verses and collect. In addition, provision is made also for the substitution of the famous antiphon Sub tuum presidium or, during Easter time, the Regina Caeli. The Litany on Saturday may also be continued, and an alleluia added to the Inviolata during Easter time. Finally, the traditional freedom of choice for ways of commemorating St. Dominic is preserved. There is the option of singing the O spem miram or the Magne pater, another well-known antiphon from the saint's office, in place of the O Lumen. I have seen all of these options taken, using the original Latin or English adaptions.

These musical options are included in the new Compline Book available for consultation or download on our sidebar at Completorii Libellus Novus (2008).

And here is a link to an (admittedly truncated) celebration of the Salve Procession at Blackfriars, Oxford, December, 2007, with thanks to Engish Dominican students.

Serving Low Mass (a brief summary)

A poster in one of our comboxes has asked for a posting on how to serve the Dominican Rite Mass. For Missa Cantata and Solemn Mass, this is a very complex question. I am going to see if it would be possible to do something about making the Bonniwell Ceremonial and Altar Boy's Manual made available on the sidebar. They are both over 50 years old, so probably not under copyright protection.

Since the request came from one who knows the old Roman Rite, I am going to limit myself to what is different. So, to serve the Low Mass observe the following:

1. Genuflect with the priest on arriving at the altar and on departure only, if there is a tabernacle. Do not genuflect again during Mass, except for the Creed and Last Gospel. Domincians do not genuflect, but rather bow, when crossing before the tabernacle during Mass. Properly speaking, you should arrive carrying the Missal to deposit on the stand, and then you should light the candles (Gospel side first), but it is common for the Missal to be there already and the candles to be already lighted.

2. When the priest goes to the altar, get the cruets so that the priest can Make the Chalice. Say "Benedicite" to him before you give him the water. Kiss the priest's hand when you give him something or take it back (e.g. the cruet).

3. If you do not know the Dominican "Prayers at the Foot of the Altar," it is not a problem. The priest can use the formula from Prime when recited alone and say them by himself. You can find the proper responses in the link to the Ordinary for Low Mass link on the sidebar. Note that we do not strike our breasts at our single "mea culpa." Also, do not say "Deo gratias" after the readings: it is not done in the Dominican rite, except after the Last Gospel.

4. At the Offertory, minister the Lavabo and towel. Do not bring the wine as the chalice has already been prepared. When the priest says "Orate fratres" do not make any response. It is not in our rite.

5. When you have recited the Sanctus with the priest, go and light the "Sanctus Candle" as he begins the Canon. If there is no Sanctus Candle, you don't have to do this.

6. In some places, e.g., Australia, it is the custom, when the priest kisses the chalice after the mingling to rise, go to the altar and pick up the Pax Instrument (or lacking that the paten) and offer it to him to kiss. He will then give you the kiss of peace by saying "Pax tibi et sanctae Dei Ecclesiae." But do not do this unless the priest has told you it is the local practice.

7. Do not strike your breast at the Agnus Dei or at the Domine Non Sum Dignus.

8. After the dialogue of the Last Gospel, go immediately to snuff the candles (Epistle side first), while the priest is reading it, unless he tells you not to do this (it is not customary ni some places). When he picks up the chalice, you get the Missal (unless he tells you that it will be left on the altar).

9. In some places the old blessing in the sacristy is used: Mass concludes in the same way as the common Roman usage. In the sacristy: the server kneels and says "Benedictus Deus!", to which the priest responds blessing "Pater, et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus!" If the priest expects you to help him take off his vestments, do that first and then kneel, kiss his scapular, and say, "Benedictus Deus."

Other than that, serving Dominican Low Mass is identical to the old Roman Rite.

New on Dominican Saints and their Cults

On this the day after the traditional feast of St. Peter Martyr, O.P. (new calendar: June 4), I have the pleasure to announce two important new studies on Dominican saints and the history of devotion to them. Both are by my former doctoral student at the University of Virginia, Prof. Donald S. Prudlo, now assistant professor of ancient and medieval history at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. This first is his book, The Martyred Inquisitor: The Life and Cult of Peter of Verona (+1252), newly out from Ashgate Publishers in their series "Church, Faith and Culture in the Medieval West." It is now the standard work on St. Peter Martyr himself. This study not replaces and corrects the series of articles by Fr. Dondaine, O.P., published in 1953 and till now the only scholarly study of the saint, it also traces Peter's cult in liturgy, art, music, and sermons until the end of the middle ages, something never traced before. An example of one of the altarpiece painting dedicated to him can be seen to the above right.

Peter was born in Verona to a family tainted with Cathar dualism, but already as a student he turned strongly against that heresy. He entered the Dominican Order in Bologna and became famous for his preaching, converting Cathars and Waldensians, and strengthening the faith of Catholics. He was involved in city politics during the conflicts between factions professing support for the pope and emperor, especially at Florence, where he was involved in organizing popular resistence to the imperial faction. Prof. Prudlo's lively treatment of these street fights are among the most exciting parts of the book. In 1252 he was appointed papal inquisitor in Lombardy, an office he held for about six months, during which, Prof. Prudlo tells us, we only know of one juridicial action: a decree of clemency. Peter was hated by his heretical adverssaries and in the spring of that year a plot was hatched in Milan to have him murdered. During the Easter Octave, he was waylaid on the road outside of Como by a pair of thugs and cut down by blows to the head. He and his two socii had just finished singing the Victimae Paschali Laudes. Prof. Prudlo has reconstructed in detail the events of that last day, for which the investigation records still exist. In the middle ages, his cult rivaled that of St. Anthony of Padua, and he was known in Ireland as patron and deliverer of women in childbirth.

Peter's murderer, the hired assasin Carino of Balsamo, is the subject of Prof. Prudlo's article, ”The Assassin-Saint: The Life and Cult of Carino of Balsamo", Catholic Historical Review, 94 (2008): 1-21, just out in the January number of that journal. Carino escaped from prison in Milan where he had been arrested following the murder. For thirty or so years he wandered throughout Italy as a fugitive. Then one day he arrived at the Dominican priory in Forlì, where he asked to go to confession. As a penance, he became a lay brother, taking the name of Peter, and so he became a domestic of the monastery and died in the odor of sanctity. Soon a local cult grew up around his grave and he was venerated as a model or repentence. You can see his shrine effigy in the image. Devotion continues in Emilia and Romagna in Italy, even if the blessed Carino never made it into the official Domincian calendar.

If it was possible for Carino to become a saint, I would say Grace can save any of us.

The Dominican Sacrae Theologiae Magister

I am pleased to let our readers know that there is now available, through the kindness of Mr. Philip Smith of Notre Dame University, in Latin and English, the ceremony for the creation of a Master of Sacred Theology as bestowed by the Order of Friars Preachers. The "Form for Creating a Master of Sacred Theology"may be consulted or downloaded. The rite for this ceremony has remained unchanged since 1690, with the exception of the "Profession of Faith," which is that most current. This title is an honorary one, granted by the Master of the Dominican Order, on the recommendation of his Council. Today the prerequisites are ten years of teaching at the graduate level and the publication of at least one book postively reviewed in international journals and of several articles in refereed academic journals. A friar with these qualifications may then be nominated by the prior provincial and council of his province. This academic title dates back to 1303, when Pope Benedict XI, a Dominican himself, created the rank so that the Dominican Order could independently grant the faculty to teach theology, without having the candidate approved by a university theology faculty. In the past an S.T.M. automatically sat on the council of his province and had privileged voting rights. The current publishing requirements did not exist. The political value of the privileges sometimes caused the nomination of friars for reasons other than academic excellence. The voting rights were abolished by the Dominican General Chapter of 1968, and the title today is wholly honorary. I might add that a Dominican S.T.M. never wears the regalia of the Office in liturgical functions, but only for academic exercies. The S.T.M., however, has the perpetual right to the title "very reverend." Indeed., the Dominican archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, was famous for refusing to use "D.D." (Doctor of Divinity) after his name he insisted on using "S.T.M." because it was the more distinguished academic title. (I thank Fr. Gerald Forgarty, S.J., for reminding me of this.)

The ceremony of installation is interesting for the symbolism employed. Normally, it is bestowed by the most recent S.T.M. of the province, who sits in the cathedra, the chair of a Master, to do so. If there is no S.T.M., the one doing the investiture does not sit in the cathedra, but stands next to it. The one to be promoted comes and kneels before him. The candidate makes a Profession of Faith according to the form currently in use. The one creating the new S.T.M. then places a ring on the ring finger of the candidate's left hand, and declares that As you have called Wisdom your friend, and your have become a lover of her beauty, you have asked that she become your spouse: Behold. God gives her to you as spouse, that she be with you always and possess your heart. An S.T.M. wears the ring on the left hand so that there is no confusion between him and a bishop, whose ring on the right hand is commonly kissed. One does not kiss the ring of an S.T.M. Traditionally, the ring of a Master may have only one stone, as in the example above. But often it has none, sometimes having merely an inscription. In the American Eastern and Western Dominican Provinces, it has been the practice to inscribe inside the ring the initials of previous the S.T.M.s of the province.

Ceremonially, the granting of the ring formally creates the candidate as a Master of Sacred Theology, although, in fact, the Master may use the title from the day on which it is granted by the Master of the Order and his Council. The one officiating then seats the candidate in the chair and announces his appointment as a Master. He places on the new Master's head the "black biretta" which is the insignia of a Master. The current practice is to use a black biretta with red-purple piping and pom-pom, as can be seen here. As the biretta of a doctor, it has four fins, not three as is the case for the biretta of a license or a clerical biretta. Originally this biretta was probably totally black and had no pom-pom or trim. An example of such a biretta may be seen at the beginning of his post, in the seventeenth-century of the Blessed Neils Stensen, convert, biologist, and bishop--who is not a Domincan as can be seen from his garb. The presider then turns to those assembled and announces: Behold the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field in bloom; may the Lord cause you to increase by thousands, and may he bless you for all eternity. Amen. The new S.T.M. then rises and delivers his inaugural lecture.

Those who are in the San Franciscan Bay Area on November 15, 2008, may see this ceremony performed at 11 a.m. in the Western Dominican Province House of Studies, at St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland.

The Old Attire of Dominican Prelates

A recent posting on New Liturgical Movement. showing Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P, of Vienna wearing the Dominican habit instead of the usual scarlet choir dress of a cardinal suggested this short piece on the earlier practice of Dominican and other religious order prelates and their dress. Another famous example in the United States of a prelate who continues to wear his order's religious garb is Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley of Boston, who wears his Capuchin habit but, or course, with the red zuchetto. According to John A. Nainfa, Costume of Prelates of the Catholic Church According to Roman Etiquette (Baltimore: Murphy; 1909), the "common law" of the Church in the early 1900s was that prelates from religious orders "should continue to wear the habit of their Order," although he notes that more commonly they adopted the attire of a prelate in the "colors" specific to their own order. The practice of prelatial attire in order colors was abolished in 1969 by Pope Paul VI (motu proprio Ut Sive Soliciti), and since that time many religious order prelates have reverted to the practice of simply wearing their habits or wearing the usual prelatial attire, which is also permissible.

As an example of the older practice of wearing the colors, is shown to the right, where you can see a famous painting (unfortuantely not in color), of Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O.P. (1814-1888), first archbishop of San Francisco and the co-founder, with Fr. Sadoc Francis Vilarrasa, O.P., of my Western Dominican Province. In it, you can see him wearing the white cassock and black mozzetta (trimed in white) which were used by Dominicans. His mantelletta, ferraiolo, and cappa magna would also have been also black. You can also see his pectoral cross and ring. Unfortunately his purple zuchetto is not very visible in the painting. That painting, by the way is rather famous. Archbishop Alemany always refused to sit for a portrait, so when he was about to retire and one was needed, the painter hid in a confessional of Old St. Mary’s Church (then the cathedral) and would peek out while the archbishop was preaching so as to get his likeness for the painting in progress hidden inside the box.

Here is another image of a Dominican prelate, but much older. It is Edward Fenwick, O.P. (1768-1832), of the Eastern Province, and bishop of Cincinnati. You will notice that he seems to have a hood which is white inside and that his mozzetta is plain black, with no white trim or bottons. I suspect that the life on the frontier in those days made getting the full outfit difficult. I suspect he is merely wearing a black mozzetta over his white Dominican habit (a privilege that is still enjoyed today on special occasions by the Dominican Province of Malta).

I am not going to hunt up examples of the prelates from other religious orders, but for those interested, here are some of the "colors" they wore: Augustinian Hermits, Basilians, and Vallombrosians: completely black; Benedictines: black with red trim; Silvestrines: blue; Camaldolese, Norbertines, Olivetans, Trinitarians: completely white; Cistercians and Trappists: like the Dominiicans but no white trim. Capuchin Franciscans: brown (with an otter-fur cappa magna in winter); all other Franciscans: ash gray (with vicuña fur cappa magna in winter); Carmelites brown, but with white where Domincans wear black; Those who want greater detail can consult Nainfa on line at: J. Nainfa, Costume of Prelates.

The Dominican Solemn Mass: Pictures and Commentary

This series consists of a number of images of the Dominican Solemn Mass and other ceremonies taken about 1958 at Saint Albert the Great Priory in California, which is still the House of Studies of my province. These are an addition, requested by Shawn and others, to the series "The History of the Dominican Rite, 1946-1969." I will include comments and descriptions along with the photographs

This first image shows a server lighting the candles for Mass at the high altar of the priory. You will notice that the acolyte is wearing an alb, which shows that this is in preparation for a first- or second-class feast. If it were a third-class or ferial, he would be wearing a surplice. Those who know the Roman practice will notice that the order for lighting the candles is different. In the Dominican Rite we light the candles starting on the Gospel side and then going straight across. They are snuffed in the opposite direction, starting on the Epistle and then moving left. This way, the Gospel side has the first candle lighted and the last candle snuffed, symbolizing that Christ of the Gospel is always the "Light of the World." Those who have a copy of the Dominican Altar Boy's Manual published by the Eastern Province in the 1940s will notice that in that province they had adopted the Roman style of candle lighting; the traditional way shown here was followed in Europe and in the Western Province. The presence of an Easter lily shows that this is also Eastertide--there will be other indications of this later in the series.

In case you are wondering, the high altar is still there, although now rarely used. The two statues are St. Albert the Great, patron of the house (on the Gospel Side), and St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of studies (on the Epistle side). The altar cards were calligraphed and illuminated by a nun of Corpus Christi Dominican Monastery in Menlo Park, California, for, I believe, the dedication Mass of the chapel in 1954. They now hang over the vesting table in the sacristy. St. Albert's is our third "House of Studies" and opened in 1931; festivities will celebrate its 75th anniversary over the next year. The first Studium was in Monterey CA (1850-51), the next was St. Dominic's Priory in Benicia CA (1851-1930).

I. PRAYERS AT THE FOOT OF THE ALTAR

This picture shows the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar in a Dominican Solemn Mass at St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland CA about 1958. The major ministers are Fabian Stan Parmisano, priest; Ambrose Toomey, deacon; and John Flannery, subdeacon. Fr. Fabian is the author of a history of the Western Province, Mission West: The History of the Western Dominican Province, 1850-1966 (Oakland: Western Province, 1995); Fr. Flannery later served as our provincial. Both are still alive and members of the Western Province.

The ministers have arrived at the altar, the deacon and subdeacon have placed the Missal and the Evangeliary on their respective cushions and returned to below the altar steps. As they were doing this, the priest recited quietly the prayer Actiones Quaesumus. The major ministers having reassembled at the step, the acolytes turn inward for the prayers. Those who know the Roman Rite will notice that in contrast (following the Sign of the Cross and the verse Confitemini Domino and response Quoniam in Saeculum), all the ministers bow at the same time and remain bowed together. The Dominican prayers are very simple reflecting their early origins. The short Confiteors follow the verse immediately and all rise after the Absolutionem. There is no striking of the breast at the single Mea Culpa, nor do the ministers cross themselves at the Absolutionem. They then recite the verse Adiutorium with its response Qui Fecit and ascend to the altar. After the priest recites the Aufer a Nobis, and kisses the altar, they form a line in back of the priest at the book and swing out to the right side of the altar for the recitation of the Officium (as we call the "Introit") and the Kyrie.

I don't have a picture of this swinging motion, but this one from a celebration in France, previously posted on N.L.M., gives an idea of what the result is like, although this is actually the swing at the Credo, which is on the Gospel side and also includes the thurifer. The reading of the Kyrie over, the ministers swing back into line behind the priest at the center, where he intones the Gloria. They swing again to the right and recite it with him. As the other ministers return to the sedilla (a single bench for all three, not three stools as in the French picture), the subdeacon and his acolyte go to the sacristy to retrieve the chalice and paten. During singing of the Gloria, these are brought to the altar in procession covered with the humeral veil, while the subdeacon's acolyte leads carrying the cruets. The subdeacon then sits with the other minsters until they return to the altar for the Dominus Vobiscum and the Collects. While sitting, acolytes cover the ministers' laps with the mappula (or "germial") to protect the vestments. You can see it on the stools in the French picture. The ministers hands go on top of it, not under it. It protects the vestments, it is not to keep their hands warm.

II. EPISTLE, INTERVENING CHANTS, PREPARATION OF THE CHALICE

The following sections focuses on the Preparation of the Chalice during the intervening chants. After the Collects, the priest returns to the sedilla, and the subdeacon chants the Epistle (or Old Testament Reading at some Masses). During the Epistle, the deacon washes his hands (which in our rite is always done before handling sacred objects) and goes to the altar to remove the corporal from the burse and unfold it.

Accompanied by his acolyte, who carries the Missal, the deacon then returns to the sedilla, where he and the priest read the Epistle, intervening chants, and Gospel quietly. In the middle ages, they didn't read the Epistle and Gospel, but only the intervening chants (because the ministers would be too busy to sing them, as also the Ordinary, along with the choir). The Biblical readings properly belong to the deacon and subdeacon, so there was no reason for the priest to read them. The practice of reading them in our rite was a Romanization of the 1600s. The Roman Rite had picked up this practice under the influence of the late-medieval Low Mass, where the priest performed all the ministries himself. This gave some liturgists of that period the impression that, even at Solemn Mass, the priest should repeat all the words of the other ministers. We resisted this innovation until the 1690s, when it was imposed on us, along with yet another late-medieval Roman practice, the Last Gospel.

The Epistle ended, in this photograph, the cantors in medio chori are intoning the first of the two Eastertide Alleluias. You can also see the Dominican community in their stalls. They have their capuches down for the Alleluia; they would still be up if it were a Responsorium. The chapel looks very much the same today, except that the stalls are now triple-ranked instead of double-ranked. You can also see two of the twelve dedication candles on the wall above the stalls. Western Province friars will recognize Fr. Bede Wilks as the last cantor on the right. You can tell that this is a major feastday, perhaps a Sunday, because there are four cantors intoning the chants and singing the verses. On a second-class feast, there would be two; on a third-class or ferial, where would be only one. As the Responsorium or first Alleluia is sung, the subdeacon washes his hands and receives the humeral veil from his acolyte (it has been resting on the altar since the chalice arrived during the Gloria). He picks up and covers the chalice and paten with the veil, then both go to the sedilla for the Preparation of the Chalice. I might add that in the Missa Cantata the chalice is also prepared at this point but at the altar. As I mentioned above, the well-known practice of mixing the chalice before the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar is done only at Low Mass.

In this picture you can see the preparation of the Chalice, over which the priest, Fr. Fabian Parmisano, is presiding. He and the deacon are seated on the sedilla, the single bench for the major ministers. The priest sits closest the altar, then the deacon, and finally the subdeacon. That sedilla is still in use at St. Albert's, although now for minor ministers. The acolytes sit farther away from the altar on their own bench. Bro. John Flannery, the subdeacon, is mixing the chalice, pouring in the wine and water (just blessed by the priest). You can see Bro. Ambrose Toomey, the deacon, holding the paten covered by the pall. Just before the preparation of the chalice, he presented the host on the paten to the priest for his approval. (I once had the horrible experience of my deacon lifting the pall and showing me an empty paten--the subdeacon had forgotten to put a host on when he set up the chalice, as is his job, in sacristy before Mass!) On the laps of the priest and deacon, you can see the mappula protecting their vestments from spills. Over the subdeacon's shoulders you can see his humeral veil. When the Preparation of the Chalice is over, the subdeacon will return the chalice and paten to the altar and return to sit with the other major ministers. All heads are uncovered; unlike the Roman practice of wearing the biretta during readings and chants, our major ministers keep their capuches down during the entire Mass. By that time the final Alleluia has begun, and the minor ministers will be arriving in procession from the sacristy for the chanting of the Gospel. You will notice that all heads are uncovered; unlike the Roman practice of wearing the biretta during readings and chants, the major ministers keep our capuches down during the entire Mass. They are only up for the processions coming in and going out.

III. THE GOSPEL

We not turn to the rituals and practices in the Dominican Rite at the proclamation of the Gospel. The first image is, I am sorry, not very good because it was scanned from a printed book illustration--William Bonniwell, Dominican Ceremonial for Mass and Benediction (Washington DC: Eastern Province, 1946)--and has been reused from a previous posting here on N.L.M. It shows, most importantly for our purposes, the Dominican way of carrying the book. This contrasts with the two-hand carry in the traditional Roman Rite and the over the head carry that seems to have become obligatory in the New Mass. The Dominican way is sober, and one could imagine a preacher carrying a precious book like this on a long journey. One may also see in this image an apparelled alb and amice, which would have been very common in the middle ages. This decoration is something that, as far as I can tell, was not used in the Western Province until it was introduced at Holy Rosary Church in Portland OR on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Parish in 1995, when the Archbishop Leveda presided in choro at a Dominican Solemn Mass. A video of that Mass is available, see the link on side-bar. This image shows the deacon as he is about to leave the sacristy for Mass: with the capuche down, it would be the way he carried the book during the Gospel procession.

As the choir sang the Alleluia, the two acolytes with candles would have escorted the thurifer and the crucifer from the sacristy to the sanctuary. The only time the cross is carried at Mass in our Rite is for the two proclamations of Faith: the Gospel and the Credo. The thurifer goes to the sedilla for the blessing of the incense and then returns to the center. At the verse of the Alleluia, the procession goes to the lectern where the acolytes with candles flank the crucifer behind it and the subdeacon takes his place behind the deacon, and the thurifer behind him. The deacon here is Bro. Ambrose Toomey, as in the earlier images, with Bro. John Flannery behind him. This image is a bit dark, but you can clearly see the Pascal Candle that is placed behind the lectern in Eastertide. According to the rubrics of the Dominican liturgical books, it is also possible for the Gospel Procession to leave the sanctuary, especially if there is a monumental pulpit for proclamation of the Gospel. The rubrics emphasize that the procession should be long enough to give a sense of real movement. For this reason, historically, the sanctuaries of Dominican priory churches have always had large sanctuaries to allow this kind of movement, as well as the swings to the sides of the altar.

As is clearer in this photograph from the opposite direction, the entire formation takes the form of a cross (you cannot see the thurifer behind the subdeacon). As you can see, the ministers are facing "liturgical" north, the direction of darkness and (in the middle ages) paganism, which the light of the Gospel will enlighten. You will also notice the lectern veil, which is properly a part of very set of Dominican vestments and should match them and the mappula. It is not the Dominican practice for the subdeacon to hold the book. In back you can see the high altar (where the priest is standing for the Gospel just out of the picture) and one of the dedication candles. You will also notice that the acolytes have their inner arms higher than the outer ones because they have turned. When in procession the outer arm is higher. This is the usual way of holding the candles‑-I mention this because I received a question about it from a reader who noticed that at his Indult Parish they hold them differently.

I include here one more photograph of the proclamation of the Gospel, this from Easter Sunday in the same year. The deacon will be recognized by older Western Dominicans as Fr. Barnabas Curtin (R.I.P.). You can see the friars in the act of turning toward the lectern for the chanting of the Gospel. Even in the new rite, most Dominicans have kept the practice of turning toward the Word of God when it is proclaimed. Head bows at the Holy Names are made to the book where they are written, not to the altar, in our Rite. The vestments worn by the deacon and subdeacon are the beautiful cloth-of-gold solemn set made in Germany for the dedication of the chapel. The remains of them are now in the archives of the Province.

It was the practice in the middle ages, and in the modern period when there was no sermon, for the Priest to immediately intone the Credo when the Gospel was finished. The deacon then handed the book to the subdeacon to carry back in procession and they went escorted by the candle-bearing acolytes, thurifer and crucifer. The singing of the Credo provided "traveling music" for the long procession back to the altar. It remained the practice in the order until the last century to do this, even when there was a sermon, which was given after the Credo as in the medieval practice. During the Credo the Cross remained in the center of the sanctuary, while the acolytes and major ministers did a swing to the Gospel side to read the text quietly. Of course, they would swing back to the middle at the Et incarnatus est to kneel in the famous "flying wedge" formation: priest at the altar, behind him the two major ministers, and below them the three minor ministers, forming a perfect triangle, a symbol of the Trinity proclaimed in the Creed.

In our last photograph you can see the arrival of the Gospel book at the altar. The subdeacon, Bro. John Flannery, holds it for the priest, Fr. Fabian Parmisano to kiss, as the deacon steadies it. The subdeacon will then present it for the deacon to kiss and replace it on the altar.

IV. THE OFFERTORY

The Offertory of the Dominican Rite is one of its most famous features and has strong similarities to the Sarum and several other early medieval monastic uses. In this first picture we see again that beautiful cloth-of-gold solemn set. The priest is Fr. William Lewis, O.P. (R.I.P.), in that year, 1958, prior of the House of Studies. He is assisted by the deacon, Bro. Barnabas Curtin, O.P. The subdeacon was, I understand, a student visiting from another province. The elaborate vestments and the fact that the prior is celebrant shows that this is a very high ranked feast. In fact, it is actually the Easter Vigil, as you can tell because the tabernacle door is open: there have been no reserved species since the Good Friday communion. Fr. Lewis has just turned and greeted the community with the Dominus Vobiscum and said that lonely Oremus that is the only vestige of the ancient "Prayers of the Faithful" in both our Rite and the Roman. One of the archaic aspects of the Easter Vigil is that there is no Offertory chant--the Vigil's form predates its development in the 700s.

The subdeacon has uncovered the vessels and handed them to the deacon. The deacon is here handing the priest the chalice with the paten and host on top. He says quietly to the priest Immola Deo sacrificium laudis et redde Altissimo vota tua. The priest then immediately offers up the bread and wine in a single oblation. At Low Mass, where there is no deacon to address him, the priest says instead Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi? Calicem salutaris accipiam et nomen Domini invocabo before making the oblation. Our single Offertory Prayer, Suscipe Sancta Trinitas, is shared by many northern uses. The priest then places the host and chalice on the corporal and puts the paten aside. There are no other prayers at this point. You can also see in this picture the thurifer waiting to present the incense, and the two acolytes, who are preparing the lavabo bowl and towel, which they will give to the deacon and subdeacon for washing the priest's hands after the incensation.

The priest here turns to the deacon to bless the incense. In this photograph we again see Fr. Parmisano and Bro. Ambrose. The thurifer holds the censer and the deacon presents a spoonful of incense. The priest blesses it silently. We do not have the well-know Roman prayer for blessing incense, so the blessing is done with a simple Sign of the Cross. That lovely Gothic censor, which was cast for the dedication of the chapel, was stolen several years ago. I carried it many times as a student back in the 1970s and 80s. It makes me sad to see it and know that it is gone. Its twin, however, is still with us, regularly in use at the 11:00 a.m. Schola Cantorum High Mass (Ordinary Use) at St. Dominic's in San Francisco.

This photograph shows the incensing of the altar after the Offertory Prayer; the priest is assisted by the deacon. Our method of incensing is simpler than the Roman. The priest makes a single Sign of the Cross over the gifts with the thurible, bows his head, and raises the thurible three times before the gifts. He makes three lifts to the Cross. He then moves to the Epistle side, making three lifts above the altar; then he returns to the middle and proceeds to the Gospel side, making three lifts. Then he moves from Gospel corner to Epistle corner, making six lifts along the way below the edge of the altar (making a bow to the Cross at the middle). The priest gives the censer back to the deacon, who incenses him with three lifts, and then hands it off to the thurifer. There is, by the way, a Dominican way of making the lifts. We never, never, never clank the chains, and the lifts are straight up and down. I like to think that this is so that the clanking noise doesn't disturb the chant. I forgot to mention earlier that we do not incense the altar at the beginning of Mass. In the Foremass, incense is for the Gospel only. Now, as the sacrifice begins, we incense the altar.

The priest washes his hands with a shorter version of the Psalm Lavabo used in the Roman Rite. He bows and recites the prayer In spiritu humilitatis, and then turns to the ministers and says Orate fratres, to which there is no reply in our Rite. He then reads the Secrets. There is no incensing of the ministers until the Preface. In this last photograph, another unclear one scanned from Fr. Bonniwell's book, you can see the ministers in position for this incensation. The priest has just begun to sing the Preface; in a moment, the deacon and subdeacon, as well as the two acolytes, will turn to the thurifer. He will incense them: deacon and subdeacon with two lifts each, and the senior and junior acolyte with one lift each. The thurifer then goes to incense each individual friar in the stalls, according to their order of religion. The provincial, if present, gets three lifts; each priest, two lifts; unordained brothers, one lift. It was, and still is, customary for the thurifer then to incense the people in parochial churches.

V. FROM THE CANON TO COMMUNION

After the incensation of the ministers, the deacon and subdeacon read the Sanctus with the priest as the acolytes go to light the "Sanctus Candles." Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of these, which are usually on branched candlesticks flanking the altar. These candles stay lighted till communion. There are six (three on each side of the altar) on first class feasts, four on second class, and two on ordinary days. Then, as the priest bows and begins the Te Igitur, the subdeacon puts on the humeral veil and receives the paten from the deacon. He will hold it covered until the Pater Noster. This, in our Rite and in the Roman, is a vestige of the ancient practice of receiving food offerings from the congregation at the Offertory. In order to get them off the altar they were covered and the subdeacon took then away and held them at the foot of the steps. One of the invariable rules of our Rite is that we do not follow the early modern practice of separating the Sanctus and Benedictus. The chant is always executed together. This means that there will be a silent period after the consecration. Taken with the silent period during the Offertory after the chant is over and the silent period after the Lord's Prayer, these are the "three silences" of the Mass. Medieval commentators considered them symbolic of Our Lord's three days in the tomb.

During the Canon, up to the Quam oblationem, the deacon and subdeacon stand behind the priest, with the thurifer behind the subdeacon flanked by the acolytes. Thus they form a cross. At the Quam oblationem, the ministers again form the "flying wedge" and kneel, as you can see in this photograph of the Elevation of the Chalice. The triangle formed by the priest, the major ministers, and the three servers is clearly visible. The subdeacon holds the veiled paten, the thurifer has passed the censer to the deacon, who lifts the back of priest's chasuble and incenses continuously during the elevation. After the reposition of the chalice and genuflection, the priest will extend his hands moderately beyond his shoulders to form a cross, a position he will maintain until the words Hostiam puram. This is probably one of the best-known gestures in our Rite, one shared with the Norbertines and other northern liturgies. Otherwise, the priest does not extend his hands beyond the shoulders, and (unlike Roman priests) he holds them with palms facing forward not toward each other.

I have not had the opportunity to say much about choir rubrics, but this next photograph is so interesting that I need to. In it, you see a group of French friars performing "Prostration on the Forms" in the early 1950s. In the traditional Rite, the friars stood (with capuches up) from the Sanctus to the Quam oblationem, then, when the ministers knelt, they prostrated on the forms, as they are doing here, for the consecration. That they do not look up at the elevations is a sign of how ancient this act of reverence was. In fact, when the "Four Friars" did the first standardization of our liturgy in the 1230s, the elevation of the host was not practiced in most places. We first know it at Paris in 1205. It was probably added to our Rite by Humbert of Romans in the 1250s or some time before, but we didn't adopt the elevation of the chalice until the 1300s. Even then, we kept the ancient prostration as our sign of respect at the Consecration. That is, until 1963, when simple kneeling with head uncovered replaced it.

I might add that there are other archaic aspects in our Rite. For example, the only genuflections are on entering and leaving the church (when the Sacrament is reserved) and, by the priest, before and after each occasion when he touches the host or chalice after the Consecration. Ministers make a bow when they cross in front of the tabernacle during Mass, not a genuflection. So the priest only genuflects ten times in the entire Mass, other minsters only twice. Those who are used to the multiple genuflections in the traditional Roman Mass often comment on this. On the other hand, we never, never turn our backs on the tabernacle; something those in the Roman Rite do occasionally. This takes some intricate footwork, I assure you.

After the Pater Noster and the Pax Domini, comes the priest's communion. Our priest's communion rite is very simple. He has been holding the host in his left hand since the fraction during the doxology of the Libera nos. After dropping the particle into the chalice (with the commingling formula) and kissing its lip, he says the prayer Domine Iesu Christi (also in the Roman Rite) and the short formula Corpus et Sanguis Domini. He then immediatly receives communion. That is all: there is no Domine non sum dignus, no striking of the breast, and no other prayers. In fact, our priest's communion is simpler than that in the Ordinary Use of the Roman Rite. In the middle ages, when general communions in the monastery were only about ten times a year, the ceremony of the Pax was understood as a substitute for communion. We preserved this rite into the modern age, even after general communions become more common. When the priest kissed the chalice at the commingling, he turned his head to the deacon and said Pax tibi et sanctae Dei Ecclesiae. The deacon then took up the Pax Instrument (a small plaque with a holy image on the front and a handle on the back) from the altar and kissed it. He then presented it to the subdeacon to kiss with the same formula. The subdeacon then presented it to the minor ministers. Finally, the crucifer took it to the community, each of whom received it to kiss, again in order of religion, as at the incensing.

I like this picture of the friars' communion very much. It shows the prior, Fr. William Lewis, giving Easter Vigil communion to the St. Albert's community. On most days, the friars received communion at priests' daily private Masses, but on days of general communion they received it at the Sung Mass in a very impressive rite. After the singing the Agnus Dei and the Communion Verse that immediately followed it, the friars put on their cappas and filed out of the stalls. As the priest turned half way to expose the ciborium resting on the corporal, all did the "venia": a full prostration on the floor. They then, prostrate, recited together the Confiteor.

The priest gave the absolution, and took up the ciborium. Then, in order of religion, the friars came forward to receive on the altar steps. Here the acolytes hold the "communion cloth" to catch the host should it drop. Notice that, in this photograph, since it is Eastertide, the friars are not wearing their black cappas, as they otherwise would. Those friars who are priests kneel and take the host with their own hand; the unordained receive, of course, on the tongue. I believe you can just make out in this picture a medieval practice that had died out in many parts of the Order. That friar standing in back is the deacon with a chalice of unconsecrated wine. After communion each friar communicant got a sip to cleanse his mouth of particles. I have actually only seen this elaborate communion ritual once. It was at a Missa Cantata that I sang at St. Dominic's Church in San Francisco for the feast of Our Lady of the Snow three years ago. The parish Schola Cantorum under Mr. Berry sang Palestrina and Biebl, and the Dominican community assisted in choro, following all the old choir rubrics.

Well, that finishes this series. But, as I run off to pranzo with the Angelicum community here in Rome, I leave you with one last photograph: Easter Dinner in the St. Albert's refectory in 1958. Buon' appetito!