Sunday 5 February 2017

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany


The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany is of semi-double rite and its liturgical colour is green. The Gospel pericopes from St. Matthew speak of the parable where the enemy sows cockle seed into the field sown with good seed.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons and psalms appointed for Saturday were sung. The Office hymn was Jam sol recedit igneus. The antiphon on the Magnificat was, as in previous weeks, Suscepit Deus. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations were sung of the preceding Office of St. Andrew Corsini and of St. Agatha. The Suffrage of the Saints was omitted at Vespers as were the Dominical preces at Compline because of the concurrent and occurrent double feasts.

At Mattins the invitatory is Adoremus Dominum and the Office hymn is Primo die . Mattins has the usual three nocturns. In the first nocturn the lessons are the Incipit of St. Paul's Epistle to Timothy. In the second nocturn the lessons are from the writing of St. Augustine on the Apostle. In the third nocturn the homily is, again, from St. Augustine. At Lauds the Office hymn is Aeterne. After the collect of the Sunday a commemorations is sung of St. Agatha. The Suffrage of the Saints is omitted.

At Prime both Quicumque and the Dominical preces are omitted due to the occurring double feast.

At Mass the Gloria is sung, the second collect is of St. Agatha. Today there is no third collect. The Credo is sung and the preface is that of the Blessed Trinity.

At Vespers the Office hymn is Lucis creator. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations are sung of the following feast of St. Titus, of St. Agatha and of St. Dorothy. The Suffrage is again omitted due to the double feast as are the Domincal preces at Compline.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' there are no commemorations at either Vespers. Mattins is cut down to a single nocturn of three lessons. There are no commemorations at Lauds. At Mass there is only one collect.

Art: Jerome Nadal

7 comments:

P. J. Gray said...

Thank you very much for this interesting post; and for Father Nadal's edifying picture.

I am not conversant with the rubrics of the Roman Breviary, it is a study I am only beginning, but it is obvious even to me that Mattins in the ''rite of 1962'' is mutilated. The suppression of six lessons -- with their associated two absolutions and six benedictions -- is a terrible thing.

In his ''Spiritual Conferences'', specifically the Conference on Death, Father Frederick Faber lays great importance on the least ceremonies of the Church -- the repeated blessings, absolutions and even ''the hands impregnated with the odour of the Host''. Every drop of holy water is precious, how much so are the prayers compiled by Our Mother the Church and imposed upon all the clergy. We cannot dare do without a single prayer or Sign of the Cross, so it is a far from pleasant thing to consider that two-thirds of the soothing absolutions, easing the pains of Purgatory, and two-thirds of the Benedictions rallying the frail and breaking troops of the Church Militant in the fight against temptation, have been abandoned.

For those (like myself) who find these small ''coincidences'' or signs of the ceaseless vigil God keeps over us comforting, it is pleasant to note that Jerome Nadal, the author of the ''Adnotationes et Meditationes in Evangelia'', which is the source of the beautiful pictures used on this blog, produced 153 illustrated meditations, the same number as the number of Aves in a single chaplet of Our Lady's Holy Rosary.


P. J. Gray said...

P.S. There is a slight error -- an oversight, really -- in the above. The number 153 is the number of Aves in a full Rosary of three chaplets, there being but fifty-three in the first and fifty in the second and third.

Capreolus said...

Carissime!
Am I correct in thinking that this coming Friday (Feb. 10), the lessons for the 1st nocturne are to be taken from Saturday ("Incipit" etc.), though with the responsories for Friday, due to the fact that the occurring feast of the Apparition of O. Lady on Sat. has proper lessons for the 1st noct.? I didn't see it annotated in the Ordo and so thought I should ask.

All the very best!
Fr. Capreolus

Rubricarius said...

Fr. Capreolus,

You are correct: The Incipit of Philemon is anticipated by a day.

Anonymous said...

What rubric governs the question of whether today the anticipated VI Dom. is or is not celebrated?

Rubricarius said...

In the Breviary R.G. IV, 4.

Paleo-Con said...

VI Dom. Epiph. will be resumed on 19 Nov. this year as XXIV Dom. Pent.