wNwi^invtr qg 1979 ®2Ji*«« uadMv APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION ON THE BREVIARY POPE PAUL VI Laudis Canticum 1971 Publications Office UNITED STATES EATHDLIE EONFERENEE 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.E. 2DD05 0'f;; 1 ‘» . ->U*> ' ,i.t Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/apostolicconstitcath_0 APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION BY WHICH THE DIVINE OFFICE, RESTORED ACCORDING TO THE DECREES OF THE SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, IS PROMULGATED POPE PAUL VI The hymn of praise, which resounds eternally in the heavenly halls, and which Jesus Christ the High Priest introduced into this land of exile, has always been continued by the Church in the course of so many centuries, with constancy and faithfulness, in the marvellous variety of its forms. The Liturgy of the Hours was gradually developed until It became the prayer of the local Church, where, at established times and places, with the priest presiding over it, it became a necessary completion, as it were, of the whole divine worship contained in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, to be poured forth and spread at every hour of man’s life. The book of the Divine Office, gradually increased by numerous additions in the course of time, became a suitable instrument for the sacred action for which it is intended. Nevertheless, since in the different periods considerable modifications were introduced in the way of celebrating the Hours, including celebration by the individual, it is not surprising that the book itself, later called the Breviary, has been adapted to the various forms, which sometimes required a different composition. THE 'TAUS PERENNIS'' IN HISTORY For lack of time, the Council of Trent did not succeed in completing the reform of the Breviary, and entrusted the task to the Apostolic See. The Roman Breviary, promulgated by our predecessor St. Pius V In 1568, provides in the first place, in accordance with the common ardent desire, for the uniformity of canonical prayer, which no longer existed in the Latin Church at that time. 1 In the centuries that followed various innovations were introduced by the Sovereign Pontiffs Sixtus V, Clement VIII, Urban VIII, Clement XI and others. In the year 1911, St. Pius X had published the new Breviary prepared at his request. The old custom of reciting 150 psalms every week was re-established, the Psalter was completely rearranged, all repetitions were eliminated, and the possibility was offered to bring the week-day Psalter and the cycle of biblical readings into line with the Offices of the Saints. Furthermore the Sunday Office grew in importance and was given a higher rating in order that it could, as often as not, have precedence over the feasts of Saints. The whole work of liturgical reform was taken up again by Pius XII. He granted the use of a new version of the Psalter, drawn up by the Pontifical Bible Institute, both in private and in public recitation; and having set up a special Commission in the year 1947, he entrusted the question of the Breviary to it. The Bishops of the whole world were consulted on this subject, from the year 1955. This diligent work began to yield its fruits with the Decree on the simplification of the rubrics on March 23rd 1955 and with the Norms on the Breviary, which John XXIII issued in the Code of Rubrics in 1960. But though he had only partly made provision for the liturgical reform, the same Sovereign Pontiff John XXIII realized that the great principles on which the Liturgy was basedjJ called for a more thorough study. He entrusted this task to the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, which he had convened in the meantime. The Council dealt with Liturgy in general and with the prayer of the Hours in particular so amply and validly that nothing similar can be met with in the whole history of the Church. While the Vatican Council was still going on, it was our care to make provision for the implementation of the decrees of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy immediately after their promulgation. For this reason we set up a special group within the Consilium for the implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. This group worked very diligently and painstakingly for seven years to prepare the new book for the Liturgy of the Hours, having recourse to the contribution of scholars and experts on liturgical, theological, spiritual and pastoral matters. After consulting the universal Episcopate and numerous pastors of souls, religious and laymen, the above-mentioned Council, as well as the Synod of Bishops, which met in 1967, approved the principles and structure of the whole work and of its separate parts. 2 THE NEW REGULATIONS It is opportune, therefore, to set forth in detail the new regulations of the Liturgy of the Hours and their motivations. 1. As was requested by the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, the conditions in which priests, engaged in the apostolate, find themselves today have been taken into account. Since the Office is the prayer of the whole People of God, it has been drawn up and prepared in such a way that not only ecclesiastics but also religious and even laymen can take part In It. By introducing various forms of celebration, the attempt has been made to meet the specific requirements of persons of different order and degree. The prayer can be adapted to the different communities that celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours, according to their condition and vocation. 2. The Liturgy of the Hours Is the sanctification of the day and therefore the order of prayers has been revised so that the canonical Hours can be adapted more easily to the various hours of the day, taking into account the conditions of human life in our times. For this reason the Hour of Prime has been suppressed. Lauds and Vespers have been given most importance, as being the hinges on which the whole Office turns: these Hours are presented as real morning and evening prayers. Matins, while keeping its characteristic of nocturnal prayer for those keeping vigil, can be adapted to any hour of the day. As regards the other Hours, the middle Hour has been suppressed so that anyone who chooses one only among the Hours of Terce, Sext and None, can adapt it to the moment of the day in which he celebrates it and is not obliged to omit any part of the Psalter distributed in the various weeks. 3. In order that in the celebration of the Office the mind may more easily be attuned to the voice and the Liturgy of the Hours and really be a source of piety and nourishment for personal prayer (1), in the new book of the Hours the portion of prayer established for each day has been considerably reduced, while the variety of the texts has been greatly increased, and various aids are proposed for meditation on the psalms. Such are the titles, the antiphons, the psalmodic prayers, the moments of silence to be introduced as is opportune. 4. According to the norms given by the Council (2), the weekly cycle being abolished, the Psalter is distributed over a period of four weeks, according to the new Latin version prepared by the Commission for the Neo-Vulgate of the Bible, which we set up. In this new distribution of the Psalter, a few psalms and some verses that are rather difficult to understand have been omitted, keeping in mind the difficulties that may be met with particularly In celebration in the vernacular language. Some 3 new canticles, taken from the books of the Old Testament, have been added to morning Lauds, to increase their spiritual richness, while other canticles from the New Testament have been Introduced, like precious pearls, into Vespers. 5. In the new Ordo of the readings taken from Holy Scripture, the treasure of God’s word is spread out more copiously. It has been arranged in such a way as to correspond to the order of the readings In Mass. The pericopes present a certain unity of subject on the whole, and have been chosen in such a way as to reproduce the culminating moments of the history of salvation in the course of the year. 6. The daily reading of the works of the Fathers and of ecclesiastical writers, for which provision is made according to the decrees of the Ecumenical Council, presents the best writings of Christian authors, in particular of the Fathers of the Church. But to offer the spiritual riches of these writers to a more abundant extent, another optional Lectionary will be prepared, in order that more copious fruits may be obtained. 7. Everything that does not correspond to historical truth has been removed from the texts of the Liturgy of the Hours. In the same way the readings, especially the hagiographical ones, have been revised in such a way as to set forth in the right light the spiritual figure of the Saint and the role he played in the life of the Church. 8. To morning Lauds have been added the Prayers in which it is desired to consecrate the day, and invocations are made for the beginning of daily work. At Vespers a short prayer of supplication Is said, structured as universal prayer. At the end of these Prayers, the Our Father has been inserted again. In this way, counting its recitation in Mass, the custom prevalent In the ancient Church of reciting this prayer three times a day, is re-established In our times. The prayer of holy Church having, therefore, been renewed and completely restored according to her earliest tradition, and in consider- ation of the necessity of our time, it is highly desirable that it should deeply penetrate all Christian prayer, become its expression and effectively nourish the spiritual life of the People of God. For this reason we hope and trust that there will be a new awareness of the prayer to be recited “without interruption” (3), which Our Lord Jesus Christ laid upon his Church. In fact the book of the Liturgy of the Hours, distributed in the right time, is intended to sustain prayer continually and help it. The very celebration, particularly when a community meets for this reason, manifests the true nature of the Church in prayer, and appears as her marvellous sign. 4 COMMUNITY PRAYER Christian prayer is above all the prayer of the whole human family, which Christ joins to himself. Everyone takes part in the celebration of this prayer, but it is characteristic of the whole body, therefore the voice of Christ’s beloved bride, the desires and wishes of the whole Christian people, the supplications and implorations for the necessities of all men, merge together. This prayer receives its unity from the Heart of Christ. Our Redeemer willed, in fact, “that the life begun in his mortal body with his prayers and his sacrifice should continue throughout the centuries in his Mystical Body, which is the Church,’’ (5); so that the prayer of the Church is “the very prayer which Christ himself, together with his Body, addressed to the Father’’ (6). It is necessary, therefore, that while we celebrate the Office we should recognize the echo of our voices in that of Christ and the voice of Christ in us (7). For this characteristic of our praying to shine forth more clearly, there must flourish again in everyone “that warm and living love for Scripture’’ (8) that transpires from the Liturgy of the Hours, so that Holy Scripture will really become the main source of all Christian prayer. The prayer of the psalms particularly, which accompanies and proclaims the action of God in the history of salvation, must be learned with renewed love by the People of God. This will happen more easily If a deeper knowledge of the psalms is more diligently promoted among the clergy, in the meaning understood by sacred Liturgy, and If an opportune catechesis makes all the faithful participate In this study. Wider reading of holy Scripture, not only at Mass, but also in the new Liturgy of the Hours, will ensure the uninterrupted commemoration of the history of salvation and the efficacious announcement of its continuation in the lives of men. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH AND PERSONAL PRAYER Since the life of Christ In his Mystical Body perfects and elevates also the personal life of each member of the faithful, any opposition between the prayer of the Church and personal prayer must be rejected; in fact their mutual relations must be strengthened and increased. Meditation must find a continual nourishment in the readings, in the psalms, and In the Office must be adapted, as far as possible, to the necessities of living, personal prayer, owing to the fact, for which provision is made in the general Institution, that those times and ways and forms of celebration must be chosen that are best suited to the spiritual situations of those praying. When the prayer of the Office becomes real personal prayer, then 5 the bonds that unite Liturgy and the whole of Christian life are manifested more clearly. The whole life of the faithful, during the single hours of the day and the night, constitutes a leitourgia , as it were, with which they offer themselves in a service of love to God and to men, adhering to the action of Christ, who, by staying among us and offering himself, sanctified the lives of all men. The Liturgy of the Hours expresses clearly and confirms effectively this lofty truth inherent in Christian life. For this reason the prayers of the Hours are proposed to all the faithful, also to those who are not obliged by law to recite them. MANDATE OF THE CHURCH Let those who, on the contrary, have received from the Church the mandate of celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours, carry out their duty religiously every day with the complete recitation, as far as possible at the correct time, of the single Hours; and let them give due importance first of all to morning Lauds and Vespers. In celebrating the divine Office, those who as a result of having received sacred Orders are destined in a particular way to being the sign of Christ the Priest, and those who with the vows of religious profession have dedicated themselves to the service of God and the Church in a special way, should not feel impelled solely by a law they must observe but rather by recognition of the intrinsic importance of prayer and by its pastoral and ascetic usefulness. It is highly desirable that the public prayer of the Church should spring from a general spiritual renewal and from awareness of the intrinsic necessity of the whole body of the Church. The latter, like her Head, cannot be presented except as a praying Church. By means of the new book of the Liturgy of the Hours, which we now establish, approve and promulgate by our Apostolic Authority, let divine praise ring out, therefore, more splendidly and beautifully in the Church of our times. Let it unite with the praise of the Saints and the Angels resounding In the heavenly mansions and, growing in perfection, let it approach more and more, in the days of this earthly exile, that full praise that is given for ever “to Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb” (9). PRACTICAL NORMS We establish, therefore, that this new book of the Liturgy of the Hours can be used immediately after Its publication. It will be the task of 6 the Episcopal Conferences to have editions prepared in the national languages and, after the approval or confirmation of the Holy See, to establish the day on which these versions can or must begin to be used, either wholly or just in part. From the day when the translations for the celebrations in the vernacular language are to be used, also those who continue to use the Latin language must use solely the revised text of the Liturgy of the Hours. Those who on account of advanced age or other particular reasons meet with grave difficulties in the use of the new Ordo are allowed, with the permission of their Ordinary and only in individual recitation, to continue to use the preceding Roman Breviary as a whole or in part. We wish what we have decreed and ordered to become effective now and in the future, in spite of contrary Constitutions and Apostolic regulations promulgated by our Predecessors and other decrees, even if worthy of particular mention. Given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, on November 1st, All Saint’s Day, of the year 1970, the eighth of our Pontificate. PAULUSPP.VI FOOTNOTES 1) Cone. Vat. II, Const. De Sacra L\\.urg\di Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 90; A.A.S. 56 (1964), p. 122. 2) /6/^/., n. 91, pp. 122-123. 3) Cfr. Luke 18: 1; 21:36; 1 Th. 5: 17;Eph. 6: 18. 4) Cfr. Cone. Vat. II, Const, de Sacra Liturgia Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 83; A.A.S. 56 (1964), p. 121. 5) Pius XII, Lett. Encicl. Mediator Dei, 20 Nov. 1947, n. 2; A.A.S. 39 (1947), p. 522. 6) Cone. Vat. II, Const, de sacra Liturgia, Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 84; A.A.S. 56 (1964), p. 121. 7) Cfr. St. Augustine, Enarrationes in ps., S5, n. ^ . 8) Cone. Vat. II, Const, de sacra Liturgia, Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 24; A.A.S. 56 (1964), pp. 106-107. 9) CU.Apoc., 5:13. 8 m I i