In the Motu Proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae of 1966, implementing various decrees of Vatican II, Pope Paul VI said:
Although Religious who recite a duly approved Little Office perform the public prayer of the Church (cf. Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 98), it is nevertheless recommended to the institutes that in place of the Little Office they adopt the Divine Office either in part or in whole so that they may participate more intimately in the liturgical life of the Church. (n.20)The relevant part of Sacrosanctum Concilium 98 says:
They too perform the public prayer of the Church who, in virtue of their constitutions, recite any short office, provided this is drawn up after the pattern of the divine office and is duly approved.My correspondent points out that therefore the Little Office remains part of the public worship of the Church. As it was never officially revised following the Council (although some institutes have unofficially revised their own version), it would seem that in this case, the older form of the Office is the Ordinary Form, and, contrary to popular belief, Prime is still part of the Ordinary Form liturgical worship of the Church, as the Little Office contains Prime!
It is worth noting too, that although Vatican II spoke of a "short office", the Little Office of Our Lady is substantially longer than the Liturgia Horarum. I think that the Little Office of Our Lady is becoming more popular among the laity, and it can be readily obtained from various outlets, for example Southwell Books.
10 comments:
Father, may I recommend the Little Office offered by baronius.com, which is the only edition to contain the complete Gregorian chants for the Little Office as well as meditations before each hour from the mediaeval 'Mirror of Our Lady'. It's beautifully bound and worth every penny of its selling price of £19.95!
On Prime, S.C. also specifically suppressed Prime. So, that tells me it was also suppressed in the Little Office.
S.C. also said that one was free to choose any one of Terce, Sext, or None, depending on time of day. This would also apply to the Little Office.
Finally, in an office of 9 lessons and 3 nocturns on a 2nd or 1st class feast, one was allowed to use just one. I'm not sure this comes up in Little Offices, but if it did, this would also apply.
Finally, the GILOTH never suppressed the Little Office, so it (modified as above by S.C.) might still be seen as part of the Ordinary Form.
Don't forget that Baronius Press has a beautiful little edition of the Little Office.
Fr. Z o{]:¬)
S.C. suppressed Prime in the full daily Office - NOT in the Little Office. I assume that only is suppressed which is explicitly mentioned. Ditto for the business about reading one or all of Terce, Sext and None. And as Matins of Our Lady has only 3 psalms and 3 lessons anyway, the provisions of S.C. for the full Office wouldn't apply at all.
As for the Baronius edition, it is (though beautiful, and handily supplied with chant) full of misprints - see my post on this. (Apparently they have been engaged on correcting these...)
Thanks be to God, the Carthusians (from my understanding) pray the Little Office of our Lady, in addition to the Divine Office they are deputed to pray for the Church and the world.
This is a beautiful and efficacious act of love for the Blessed Mother as well as for all of us.
Yes, the Carthusians pray the Little Office of Our Lady in addition to the principal office.
I received an email from Baronius two days ago concerning the "misprints" which Joshua mentions and they assured me that everything was corrected.
That's good - now, when will they send me a new correct copy? I didn't pay all that money for nothing.
Even with the few, earlier misprints, the Baronius books are superb. Nothing else on the market compares in either quality or value from what I can see.
Hi,
Does anyone know if Fr. Agustin Bea's Amplior Edition of the Little Office conforms to Summorum Pontificum and can be considered as 'public prayer' of the Church?
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