The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-07-24

century that st. Benedict drew up a
form Of Liturgy for the monks, and
almost exactly as it is read today, the
Office said by every priest was first
conceived by the Monastic pioneers.
Tho Psalter or the $50 Psalms of
David, form the real groundwork Of
the Office which as you know is divid-
ed into Hours; the daily recital Of
all these Psalms is so arranged that
every week the priest says the entire
Psalter through. Naturally the Rom
an division of the day was adopted;
Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Yes
pers and Compline.
The Roman Breviary---fOr certain
orders and rites possess their own
especial Breviaries-is divided into
four parts according to the season Of
the year which, for the Church, begins
with Advent, the order Of the vol
umes being consequently Winter,
Spring, Summer and Autumn 1T is
made up of the following elements:
(a) The Psalter; (b) the Proper Of
the Season; (c) the Proper of the
Saints; I'D the Common; .(e) certain
special Offices.
We have seen that the Psalter is
composed of the $50 Psalms of David
and is the most ancient part of the
Office. 1t is also of Importance to
note that Plus X had effected a new
arrangement of the Psalter, the first
made in three centuries.
The Proper of Seasons means the
especial liturgy set aside for different
times of the year and the great feasts
which they include Advent, Christmas,
Septuagesima, Lent, Holy Week, Pas
chal time and Pentecost. The Proper
of Saints explains itself as being the
liturgy for the festivals of Saints. The
Common of Saints is employed for
groups of festivals. The Office of the
Dead is also very venerable portion
Of the Breviary. The whole recital
includes the Pater, Ave and Credo
which are said Cor ought to be said)
at least once day by all Catholics
as members of the vast army.
1t is not necessary to go into de-
tails as to the whole recital beyond
saying that even the procedure" in
volved in the saying of the daily Office
requires in the priest an exercise of
memory and indeed patience which
are not common to all morals. Many
of the Psalms and other parts of the.
Office have to be recited several times
over and the number of repetitions is
very large. Many Catholics who have
had much experience of the company
of priests may have noticed on occa-
sions when one of them has taken up
his Breviary in order to complete his
Office, that at times he raises the
voice in such way that his words,
without being spoken, are clearly
heard Very few are, however, aware
that this raising of the voice is part
of the rule by which he is bound in
| it's recital
In regard to the changes in the
Office which were effected by the
late Pope, it may be pointed out
that in the Office for the Dead, Plus
Tenth made it known that Commits
sion would be entrusted with the del
icate work of thoroughly revising
some portions of these prisons. There
is double object in view in this, the
first being to shorten them as much as
possible, the second to eliminate any
matter considered to be of doubtful
Authenticity. The present generation
of users of the Breviary is, however,
hardly likely to see the results of
these critical labors which will hard
ly be less extensive than was the re-
vision of the Vulgate.