- Background
- Eugene de Mazenod, Founder
- Practice prior to 1966
- The brothers
- Vatican II and the new Constitutions
- Obligation and dispensation
At the risk of being accused of an anachronism, this article is given the title of “Liturgy of the Hours” in order to conform to post Vatican II usage, although this terminology would be foreign to Saint Eugene de Mazenod and earlier generations of Oblates.
Background
One may wonder whether the fact that his great uncle Charles-Auguste-André de Mazenod and uncle Charles-Fortuné de Mazenod were canons of the Aix-en-Province cathedral chapter influenced Saint Eugene’s outlook on the liturgy of the hours and their importance in the life of the Church. It is clear, that de Mazenod grew up at a time in which great emphasis was placed upon the role of the public celebration of the Divine Office as a work of the Church. There is no doubt that his Venetian experience with Don Bartolo Zinelli and his brother, devout and cultured priests, had a notable influence in generating his esteem for the Divine Office.
Many years later he wrote: “From then on, every day for nearly four years (1794-1797), I went after Mass to these unpaid [The translation found in Missions O.M.I. has benevolent teachers; the French text is maîtres bénévoles] teachers, who made me work up to noon. After dinner, Don Bartolo, whose health needed great care, came to take me for an outing with him ending at some church where we stopped to pray. On returning, I sat down again to work, which lasted until evening. Several priests met together about that time to recite the Office in common. We then went down into the salon where friends and family indulged in quiet recreation… Four years passed in this way… I confessed every Saturday, I received Communion every Sunday. Reading good books and prayer were the sole distractions which I accorded to the assiduity of my studies. I heard and served Mass every day, and every day likewise I recited the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin…” [1].
Among the prized relics on display at the General House in Rome is the Officium Beatæ Mariæ Virginis printed in Venice in 1793 and used by de Mazenod as a youth.
Upon his return to Aix as a young priest de Mazenod’s personal schedule reflected both his esteem for the breviary by assigning precise times for its recitation, and also the mentality of that time. The day began and ended with vocal prayers other than the Office; a definite time was assigned for the celebration of each of the canonical hours with vespers at 4:30 P.M. compline (night prayer) at 7:00 P.M.; matins and lauds (readings and morning prayer) for the following day were said latter in the evening [2].
Upon his return to Aix after his ordination, de Mazenod founded the Association of Christian Youth (Congrégation de la jeunesse chrétienne) and he revealed his own regard for the liturgy of the hours in the statutes that he composed for this association:
“In the new [law], the recitation of the Office is also an indispensable duty, and one of the most important of the priesthood. The holiest clerics (as the religious) and those who have the highest dignity in each diocese (as the canons) are especially charged by the Church to sing day and night in the name of all the faithful these beautiful canticles [3].
He wrote this as the foundation for requiring the members to recite in common at the meetings the Office of the Blessed Virgin, and to sing vespers on solemn feasts [4]. If a member could not be present at the Sunday and Thursday meetings, he was still to say the Office. On the other days of the week, the members were to say three additional decades of the rosary if they could not say the Office [5].
Eugene de Mazenod, Founder
In the first edition of the Constitutions and Rules, he stated that the institute had three ends: the preaching of the word of God; the replacement of the ancient orders suppressed by the French Revolution; and the reform of the clergy [6]. In naming the works of the suppressed orders that the missionaries were to do, he included “the public recitation of the Divine Office in common” [7]. The original Constitutions were divided into three parts: the ends and the works of the institute; the particular obligations of the members; and government, the qualities for admission, the novitiate, oblation, the Brothers, expulsion from the Congregation. The public recitation of Office in common was placed among the works or ministries of the institute, and not among the obligations of the members which included the various spiritual exercises and devotions.
Over and above the obligation of canon law requiring those in major orders to recite the entire Office everyday, the Constitutions imposed a similar duty on all other members, except the brothers, and required that it be done in common. The celebration of the Office in common, and its celebration by those not in sacred orders was from the Constitutions [8].
All, whether oblates or novices, priests included, are bound to recite the Divine Office according to the rite of the Roman Church, at the time prescribed by the Rule [9].
The Office will be recited in choir, without chanting or intoning, but without haste, with gravity, with exact observance of the pauses, and with deep recollection too, lest we incur the reproach addressed to the Jews: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” [10].
As all the members of the Society are bound to the say the Office, those novices and oblates [i.e., scholastics, according to the terminology of the time] who may be lawfully absent from common recitation will recite the Office in private [11].
Among the exercises of piety performed in common were morning and evening prayers at the beginning and end of the day. Following the custom of the time, the various hours of the Divine Office were not celebrated according to their original times of the day. Thus, vespers and compline were often celebrated during the afternoon – even early afternoon, and matins and lauds were anticipated the previous evening – often during the afternoon. This practice is easily comprehended in the understanding of the Office prior to the liturgical renewal – it was seen almost exclusively as the praise God by the Church by those officially deputed to this work, i.e., the Opus Dei performed by those in major orders and religious, who were members of institutes with solemn vows – not as prayers to sanctify the various parts of the day [12].
De Mazenod insisted upon the importance of recitation of the Office in common:
“No one can forget the importance we in our Institute attach to the recitation of the Divine Office in common. Hence it is recommended that all our communities be so attached to the fulfillment of this duty in accordance with the spirit proper to us, that even if the greater number in a house happen to be absent and there are only two present in the community, they are to assemble in choir at the fixed time to recite the Office together” [13].
At that time, in addition to the hour or the hour and a quarter required for the recitation of the Office in common, the priests, scholastics, and scholastic novices spent about two hours and forty-five minutes a day in the church or chapel for the celebration of Mass and the various spiritual exercises. To this must be added the daily recitation of the rosary in common and spiritual reading in common for the scholastics. At the 1843 General Chapter, it was proposed to exempt the scholastics not in major orders from the recitation of the Office because many of them had poor health, and they needed more time for studies. De Mazenod was requested to explain to the chapter the obligation for the scholastics to recite the Office in common.
In recalling his concerns at the time of the foundation of the Society, our Superior General and Founder said that one of his principal thoughts had been to replace in God’s Church the ancient religious institutions. He had been in particular painfully hurt by the suppression of the Divine Office, and consequently he had decided to impose on our members, priests and simple oblates [i.e., scholastics], the same obligation carried by members of other religious orders [14].
Following the Founder’s intervention, the proposal was rejected by a vote of nineteen to three.
During the 1856 chapter, the question was raised again. According to some, the scholastics’ health was poor because of the excessive number of spiritual exercises and so much time given to study. It seems that no one mentioned other possible causes – poor diet, a damp building with little heat, and rampant consumption or tuberculosis. At the time there were twenty-nine scholastics; eight had died from poor health since the previous chapter, including three during the previous three months. The recommendation was that only those in major orders recite the Office in common, and that several others by turn would join them. De Mazenod found this difficult to accept as contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitutions, but said that the chapter should discuss the question seriously. One of the members suggested that the scholastics recite the Office of the brothers, which consisted of a numbers of Credos, Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Be’s replacing the various liturgical hours.
All the fathers of the chapter rallied around this view, and it seems to our most Reverend Superior General to have less drawbacks [15].
From that time until after Vatican II, the scholastics not in major orders were, as a rule, dispensed during the school year from those parts of the Divine Office not said by them in common. At least at the Roman Scholasticate until the 1950s, they continued to substitute the brothers’ Office for the hours from which they were dispensed.
The importance of the recitation of the Office in common was repeated regularly in the various documents of the Congregation.
No one ignores that our holy Rules consider the recitation of the Divine Office, not as a pious exercise, but as a ministry [16].
The Divine Office should be considered as a ministry, preferably performed in common and at a time most constant with tradition [17].
In commenting on this resolution, Deschâtelets pointed out that it pertained to the provincials with the advice of their councils to make the necessary applications according to articles 144 and 147 of the Constitutions.
The 1873 Directoire des noviciats et des scolasticats went into great detail on pages 28-49 on the proper spirit and way to celebrate the Office with reverence. It prescribed:
“Modesty and respect forbid also spitting on the floor in choir (one should do this in one’s handkerchief, without noise and only by necessity” [18].
Practice Prior to 1966
In was in fact impossible for many of the priests to recite even parts of the Office in common because of the other demands of their ministry. Many, especially in the missions, lived alone or with a brother not bound to recite the Office, which was said in Latin. Consequently, in spite of the explicit language of the Constitutions, it was accepted that not all could fulfill this norm. This was clearly recognized by the 1926 General Chapter, which revised the Constitutions to bring them into conformity with the 1917 Code of Canon Law.
De Horis Canonicis: – The chapter kept all the preions of the Rule concerning the recitation of Divine Office; but it declared that our communities do not have, in virtue of the laws of the Church and under pain of sin for superiors, the daily obligation of choir, as the communities of orders with solemn vows. It is for this reason that it expressly authorized a custom existing among us from the beginning, i.e., that the community itself can at time be dispensed from the public recitation of Office. But it wanted at the same time to keep, and even urge, the obligation of common recitation in all the houses, even in those where because of restricted personnel or very demanding external ministry, it is impossible to say in common habitually the entire Office. In these cases, the provincials are to establish special norms, in order to approach as closely as possible the preions of the Rule [19].
Prior to Vatican II, with rare exceptions it was the practice for communities to recite in common the traditional morning and evening prayers. The recitation of Office in common varied from province to province, and from community to community. Outside the general house and the novitiates it was rare that the entire Office was recited in common except during retreats. In the reports to the 1959 General Chapter a number of provincials and vicars of missions addressed the question.
“France North: Insofar as external work permits, community exercises are held regularly: morning and evening prayer, recitation of the breviary (everywhere sext and none, vespers and compline: in some houses prime and terce, and on some days matins and lauds)” [20].
“Anglo-Irish: A horarium was drawn up for each house in 1955 by the canonical visitor. It has not been necessary to alter or add to this. At least part of the Divine Office is recited in common in each house daily, e.g., the little hours and vespers and compline in most houses. In the novitiate all of the hours of the Divine Office are said in common each day” [21].
“Central U.S.A.: In our regular communities, as the juniorates, the novitiate, the scholasticate, and the pastoral house, the rule is strictly observed. The entire Office is recited in common almost daily at the novitiate; a part is said in common at the scholasticate, juniorates, and in the house of pastoral” [22].
It is interesting to note that in report that the provincials and vicars of missions were to prepare for the 1966 General Chapter the question concerning “recitation in common of the holy Office; fathers and brothers” is placed under the heading of religious community life and not under the works or ministries [23].
The Brothers
Until Vatican II, the Office in the Latin Church had to be recited in Latin by those bound by canon law to its celebration. As a rule the Office books or breviaries were printed only in Latin and not in vernacular translations. The novices and scholastics not in major orders said the Office in Latin, both in private and in common with those in major orders. For this reason and because before elementary education was universal some of the brothers were illiterate, de Mazenod adopted the practice of other religious communities in prescribing a substitute Office for the brothers.
However, lest they be deprived of what may be termed the public recitation of the Divine Office practiced among us, and of its inestimable advantages, and in order that they may share in the merits of such an excellent exercise, they will instead of saying the Divine Office, recite the following prayers: for matins: Pater, Ave, Credo, and nine Aves and the Gloria Patri; for lauds: Pater, Ave, Credo, six Aves, and the Gloria Patri; for prime Pater, Ave, Credo, three Aves, Gloria Patri; for terce, sext, and none, respectively, the same as for prime; for vespers: Pater, Ave, six Aves, and Gloria Patri; for compline: Pater, Confiteor, Misereatur, Indulgentiam, five Aves, Gloria Patri, Pater, Ave, Credo [24].
The 1953 General Chapter considered the question of the brothers’ Office and decided that it was opportune to study thoroughly the possibility of making a change.
After a long discussion about the project of a type of Divine Office to be recited by our coadjutor brothers, the chapter finally accepted a methodical tryout when an Oblate committee, named for this purpose, will have presented a solution which is widely accepted [25].
The French text of this circular has a sentence which is not present in the English: “D’ici là ne rien innover [Until this is done, there are to be no changes]”. Since both texts were official and of equal value, in some places, especially the English speaking brothers, began to recite the little Office of the Blessed Virgin or some other short Office in the vernacular. With the celebration of the Divine Office in the vernacular after Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilium, the brothers gradually began to use the official Roman liturgy of the hours.
Vatican II and the New Constitutions
In its first document, the constitution on the sacred liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Vatican II ordered a reform of the Divine Office with the adaptation to existing circumstances and stated:
Because the purpose of the Office is to sanctify the day, the traditional sequence of the hours is to be restored so that as far as possible they may once again be genuinely related to the time of the day at which they are prayed. Moreover, it will be necessary to take into account the modern conditions in which daily life is to be lived, especially by those who are called to labor in apostolic works (no. 88).
Clerics not bound to the Office in choir, if they are in major orders, are bound to pray the entire Office every day, either in common or individually (no. 96).
Members of any institute dedicated to acquiring perfection who according to their constitutions, are obliged to recite any parts of the Divine Office are thereby performing the public prayer of the Church. 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 (no. 98).
In response to Vatican II, the 1966 General Chapter wrote and adopted the Constitutions and Rules “ad experimentum“. The liturgy of the hours was considered in part two: “The Apostolic Man”, not in chapter one: “Mission to the World”, but in chapter two: “Apostolic Requirements”, in a special section: “The Liturgical Life”.
“C. 50 – Likewise he (the Oblate) will adore the Father in spirit and in truth through the recitation of the Divine Office, which is the prayer of the body of the Christ. By it he will seek to nourish his spiritual life and his personal prayer. When they are together in community, the members, both priests and bothers, will hold in high esteem its recitation in common. In the Divine Office they will ask God to make their ministry and that of the whole Congregation efficacious and fruitful.”
“C. 51 – Holy Mass and the Divine Office will be the center of their community prayer and will take precedence over all other forms of piety.”
“R. 109 – The superiors, with the approval of the provincial, will determine what hours of the Divine Office are to be recited in common, and also what hours the brothers should take part in.”
“R. 129 – To ensure for the novices a solid foundation for their spiritual life, they will be given courses in the history of salvation and in sacred liturgy by competent teachers. They should gradually be introduced to the Divine Office.”
“R. 150 – The life of prayer [of brother novices] will be centered on the mystery of Christ, especially as studied in the Bible and lived in the liturgy. They will take part in the celebration of the Divine Office insofar as possible.”
With the adoption of the Constitutions ad experimentum, the traditional morning and evening prayers in our communities were replaced by the recitation of lauds and vespers. In many communities the daytime hour is recited at noon. The brothers now celebrate the liturgy of the hours with the rest of the community.
The 1982 Constitutions dedicates article 33 to the spiritual resources, and after addressing the role of the Eucharist and the ures in ours lives, it states:
The liturgy of the hours is the prayer of the Church, the spouse of Christ. In it we praise the Father for his wonderful works and invoke his blessing on our mission. Each community will ordinarily celebrate part of the hours in common. Where possible, the faithful will be invited to join us in this public prayer of the Church [26].
Without speaking of an obligation to recite or celebrate the liturgy of the hours, our Constitutions appeal to the motives invoked by Vatican II in inviting us to join in the Church’s official prayer for our own spiritual welfare and for that of the whole Church. In commenting on this article Fernand Jetté, former Superior General, wrote:
The liturgy of the hours is the official prayer of the Church. The Council adapted it, simplified it, made it available to the faithful. It always remains the “prayer of the Church”, and, for the Oblate as for the Council, the Church is the “Spouse of Christ”. “It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses the Father” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 84). When we celebrate it, the whole Church prays with us and it is a normal thing that we should do so, bearing in our hearts all the joys and the sorrows of the Church.
Our Founder set a very high value on this prayer. He had two reasons for this: it was a “ministry” of the Congregation, a ministry in some way rooted in replacing the old religious orders, and it enabled him to bear the burden of his missionary work. In the present article, basically the same goals are mentioned: “(the Oblates) praise the Father for his wonderful works and invoke his blessings on our mission”.
To glorify the Father, “praise the Father for his wonderful works”, is an aspect mentioned less frequently in our day, but it was always present in the heart of our Founder. In like manner, “invoke his blessing on our mission”: the way we celebrate the holy Office takes on a definite missionary quality. We celebrate the hours to ensure the success of our mission in the Church and in the Congregation.
This article recommends two things with regard to the way of celebrating the Office: 1) that one part of the Office should be celebrated in common by the community; 2) that wherever possible the lay faithful should be invited to participate in this prayer of the Church [27].
The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours speaks of the importance of their celebration as part of our ministry: This work of prayer belongs especially to all who have been called by a special mandate to carry out the liturgy of the hours: to bishops and priests as they pray in virtue of their Office for their own people and for the whole people of God, to other sacred ministers also to religious.
“Those then who take part in the liturgy of the hours bring growth to God’s people in a hidden but fruitful apostolate, for the work of the apostolate is directed to this end, “that all who are made children of God through faith and baptism may come together in unity, praise God in the midst of the Church, share in the sacrifice and eat the supper of the Lord” (Sacrosanctum Concilium #10).
Thus by their lives the faithful show forth and reveal to others “the mystery of Christ and the genuine nature of the true Church. Its characteristic is to be… visible, yet endowed with invisible realities, fervent in action, yet devoted to contemplation, present in the world, yet a pilgrim and a stranger (Ibidem, #2).
In their turn the readings and prayers of the liturgy of the hours form a wellspring of Christian life, which is nourished at the table of Sacred Scripture and the writings of the saints, and receives strength from the prayers. Only the Lord, without whom we can do nothing, can give, in response to our request, power and increase to what we do, so that we may be built up each day in the Spirit into the temple of God, to the full stature of Christ, and also receive greater strength to bring the good news to those outside (ad Christum evangelizandum iis, qui foris sunt).
Obligation and Dispensation:
The 1983 Code of Canon Law in speaking of religious prescribes:
“They are to devote themselves to reading the sacred Scriptures and to mental prayer. In accordance with the provisions of their own law, they are to celebrate the liturgy of the hours worthily, without prejudice to the obligation of clerics mentioned in can. 276 § 2, n. 3. They are also to perform other exercises of piety” (Can. 663, par. 3).
The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours explains this obligation: “Hence, bishops and priests and other sacred ministers, who have received from the Church the mandate of celebrating the liturgy of the hours (see no. 17), should recite the full sequence of the hours each day, as far as possible at the appropriate times.”
“They should, first and foremost, attach, due importance to those hours that are, as it were, the hinge of the liturgy of the hours, that is morning and evening prayer, which should not be omitted except for a serious reason (nisi gravi de causa).”
“They should faithfully recite the Office of readings, which is above all a liturgical celebration of the word of God. In this way they fulfill daily a duty that is particularly their own, that is, of receiving the word of God into their lives, so that they may become more perfect as disciples of the Lord and experience more deeply the unfathomable riches of Christ.
In order to sanctify the whole day more perfectly, they will have also at heart the recitation of the daytime hour and night prayer, to round off the Work of God (Opus Dei) and to commend themselves to God before retiring.”
From the fact that a cleric should not omit morning and evening prayer “except for a serious reason”, it is implied that one may omit the other hours for a somewhat lesser reason. It does not mean that there is no obligation to celebrate them. Since the various liturgical hours – with the exception of readings – are not atemporal, but intended for a specific time of the day, whenever a particular hour cannot be celebrated at the proper time, there is no obligation of saying it earlier or later. Such celebration would not respect the nature of the particular hour.
Without speaking of an obligation to recite or celebrate the liturgy of the hours, our Constitutions appeal to the motives invoked by Vatican II in inviting us to join in the Church’s official prayer for our own spiritual welfare and for that of the whole Church. The 1982 Constitutions grant various superiors broad dispensing authority from disciplinary preions of the Constitutions and Rules [28]. This certainly includes the faculty to dispense non ordained Oblates from the recitation of the Office. The obligation for clerics comes not from our proper law, but from the Code.
Concerning clerics, i.e., bishops, priests, and deacons, the Code prescribes:
“Can. 276 – § 1. Clerics have a special obligation to seek holiness in their lives, because they are consecrated to God by a new title through the reception of orders, and are stewards of the mysteries of God in the service of His people.
§ 2. In order that they can pursue this perfection:…
§3. Priests, and deacons aspiring to the priesthood, are obliged to carry out the liturgy of the hours daily, in accordance with their own approved liturgical books; permanent deacons are to recite that part of it determined by the Conference of Bishops.”
Since most priest were wont – even when heavily burdened by external ministry – to interpret most strictly their obligation to recite each day the breviary, de Mazenod requested and received on April 15, 1826 from Leo XII a dispensation from the Office during parish missions [29]. In 1866 it was decided that this viva voce indult was invalid, the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars said that the Oblates were bound to say the canonical hours during parish missions [30]. On June 19, 1866, Joseph Fabre, Superior General, informed the Oblates of this decree and added: “Theology moreover indicates the reasons for a legitimate dispensation” [31]. Even though, it would have been better for Fabre to have said excuse, rather than dispensation, his meaning is clear.
The General Chapters of 1887, 1893, and 1898 requested that an indult be requested from the Holy See. On June 12, 1899, the Sacred Congregation of Rites granted to Cassien Augier, Superior General, the faculty to commute the obligation of the Office to the recitation of other vocal prayers during the preaching of missions, novenas, and tridua, and also to the missionaries attached to a church of the Congregation during those times in which their ministry was equivalent to the work of parish missions. Augier commuted the celebration of the Office to the recitation of vespers and compline whenever the necessary conditions were fulfilled.
Vatican II granted all ordinaries the faculty to “dispense their subjects wholly or in part from the obligation of reciting the Divine Office” [32]. At that time major superiors of non-exempt institutes were not ordinaries. Later that same year the following faculty was granted:
The faculty given to all ordinaries to dispense their subjects, in individual cases and for a just reason, from the obligation of the Divine Office in whole or in part or to commute it, is also extended to major superiors of nonexempt clerical, religious institutes and of societies of apostolic life [33].
If formerly clerics were overly conscientious, if not scrupulous, in reciting the breviary – even when there was a serious cause exempting them from this duty – this is rarely a problem today. If anything, it seems that in spite of the fact during the ordination ceremony all deacons preparing for the priesthood promise to celebrate daily the liturgy of the hours, a number of clerics consider themselves excused with little or no reason. If this is the case, it indicates a real lack of understanding of the importance of the liturgy of the hours in the life of the Church. However, there are some clerics who need the assistance of a spiritual director or confessor in judging when they are not obliged in certain circumstances. Some may need a dispensation from a competent superior or his delegate for peace of conscience.
Do Oblate major superiors – superior general, provincials, and their vicars – still have the faculty to grant such dispensations to their priests and deacons? The question arises because the 1983 Code makes no mention of this faculty. Certainly a superior may declare that a cleric is exempt from this obligation whenever it would be a serious burden for the individual, e.g., other duties or because of scrupulosity. The Church did not intend to take away from major superiors the faculty to dispense. According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, our major superiors are now ordinaries [34], and the faculty from the celebration of the liturgy of the hours granted to ordinaries is contained in liturgical law and was not revoked by the 1983 Code [35].
According to the letter and spirit of both canon and liturgical law, the obligation to celebrate the liturgy of the hours and exceptions to that obligation must be understood “keeping in mind the salvation of souls, which in the Church must always be the supreme law” [36].
WILLIAM H. WOESTMAN
