Q: I understand that all memorials (optional and obligatory) are treated as commemorations during Lent. The format for the concluding prayer at lauds and vespers is: 1) use the daily Lenten collect, omitting the conclusion; 2) add the Benedictus or Magnificat antiphon for the commemorated saint; 3) followed by the saint’s prayer with its conclusion. That is clear. However, those memorials (even optional) which might fall during Lent are given antiphons in the Liturgy of the Hours books. I know that these become part of the concluding prayer during Lent, but are these antiphons used outside Lent? Rubrics would indicate that everything from the Proper of the Saints is to be used, but these antiphons seem to be included merely for use in the concluding prayer during Lent — their presence outside Lent would elevate every memorial (obligatory and optional) to a higher level than seems appropriate. — G.P., Charles Town, West Virginia
A: Our reader is correct as to the indications regarding the mode of praying the commemorations during Lent. These are found in the Principles and Norms of the Liturgy of the Hours, Nos. 237-239. He is also correct that during Lent the propers for some saints, for example, St. Casimir on March 4, have special antiphons during Lent that are absent if the celebration falls during ordinary time.
However, the rubrics do not say that these are the Benedictus and Magnificat antiphons but simply the antiphon corresponding to lauds and vespers. It is noteworthy that the usual rubrics of Benedictus/Magnificat antiphon are omitted in the breviary before these seasonal antiphons. Therefore, I do not think that they are used at the Benedictus or Magnificat but are used exclusively at the moment indicated at the end of the office.
Likewise, it is debatable whether this constitutes an elevation of the level of the saint’s celebration — and this for at least two reasons.
First, the level of a commemoration of this kind is in itself quite a low ranking. Not only is it always optional, but the saint in question is barely remembered in the liturgical prayers and readings which generally follow that of the day. At Mass, only the collect of the saint is used while all the rest follows the liturgy of Lent, including the use of violet vestments. This is precisely why, when the calendar was reformed in 1969, an effort was made to transfer as many saints as possible outside the Lenten season so as to not impede their celebration.
Second, it is not clear that the presence of these antiphons is a sign of the relative importance of a celebration. It would appear that it is really a question of a particular custom regarding such celebrations during the privileged seasons. This is also true of the Mass during Lent in which the prayers over the people at the end of Mass have been reintroduced for each day of Lent in the third edition of the Latin missal and its definitive official translations such as the new English version.
Even if it were the case that these were Benedictus and Magnificat antiphons, the presence of these antiphons is more an indication of when a saint was canonized or of the historical importance of his devotion than of the importance of his or her celebration.
As a general, but not absolute, rule many ancient saints, whose devotion developed before the formal processes of canonization began, have a Benedictus and Magnificat antiphon. Some earlier saints, because of their historical importance, have very complete offices. Thus, St. Martin of Tours on Nov. 11, as perhaps the first non-martyr to enter the calendar, has a fully developed office, even more than some apostles, even though his celebration is a memorial and not a feast.
Once formal canonization processes began, however, it appears that in most cases the offices of the earlier canonized saints is limited to the second reading and the collect while those canonized in the last century or so are more likely to have these antiphons. Thus, in October the memorial of St. Thérèse of Lisieux on Oct. 1 has such special antiphons, while that of St. Teresa of Avila on Oct. 15 does not. As far as I know, nobody has suggested that the celebration of Teresa is of a lesser category than the younger Thérèse.
Most optional memorials do not have these antiphons; however, even here there are exceptions. St. Martin of Porres, celebrated on Nov. 3 and canonized by Pope St. John XXIII in 1962, has Benedictus and Magnificat antiphons.
Therefore, I think we can safely conclude that the presence or absence of these antiphons does not reflect the category of celebration.
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