The Church, anxious during this part of The Easter Cycle to Glorify God for the Victory of His Son, "Consecrates this day by the triumph of The Blessed Martyr Venantius" (Collect). "Living in Jesus and Jesus in him, he bore much fruit" (Gospel), "and was persecuted in order that he should bear still more" (Ibid).
English: Church of Saint Venantius, Horgenzell, Germany.
Born, Circa 235 A.D., at Camerino, Umbria, Italy (Editor:
The same area of Italy as Saint Ubaldus, whose Feast we Celebrated on 16 May), he was led, at the age of fifteen, before Antiochus, Governor of the Town under Emperor Decius. He was made to suffer cruel torments, but Angels came and assisted him.
Vespers typically follows a set order that focuses on the performance of Psalms and other biblical Canticles.
Eastern Orthodox Services advertised as “Vespers” often conclude with Compline, especially the All-Night Vigil.[2]
Performing these Services together without break was also a common practice in Mediæval Europe, especially Secular Churches and Cathedrals.[3]
Old English Speakers translated the Latin word “Vesperas” as “æfensang”, which became Evensong in Modern English.
The term is now usually applied to the Anglican variant of the Service that combines Vespers with Compline, following the conception of Early-16th-Century worshippers that conceived these as a single unit.
The term can also apply to the Pre-Reformation form of Vespers or forms of Evening Prayer from other denominations.[4]
The Office of Vespers, or Evensong, consists firstly of the five following Psalms. For certain Feasts, some of these Psalms are changed for others, which are more appropriate for these Feasts.
After The Paterand The Avehave been said in secret, The Church commences this Hour with her favourite supplication:
Versicle: Deus, in adjutorium meum intende.
Response: Domine, ad adjuvandum festina.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculorum.
Amen.
Alleluia.
Antiphon: Dixit Dominus.
The first Psalm (Psalm 109) is a Prophecy of the future glories of the Messias. The Son of David shall sit on the Right-Hand of the Heavenly Father. He is King; He is Priest; He is the Son of Man, and the Son of God.
His enemies will attack Him, but He will crush them. He will be humbled, but this voluntary humiliation will lead Him to the Highest Glory.
Psalm 109.
Dixit Dominus Domino meo:
Sede a dextris meis.
Donec ponam inimicos tuos:
Scabellum pedum tuorum. Virgam virtutis tuæ emittet Dominus ex Sion:
Dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum.
Tecum principium in die virtutis tuæ ub splendoribus sanctorum:
Ex utero ante luciferum genui te.
Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum:
Tu es Sacerdos in æternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech.
Dominus a dextris tuis;
Confregit in die iræ suæ reges.
Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas:
conquassabit capita in terra multorum.
De torrente in via bibet:
propterea exaltabit caput.
Antiphon: Dixit Dominus Domino meo,
Sede a dextris meis.
Antiphon: Magna opera Domini.
The following Psalm (Psalm 110) commemorates The Mercies of God to His people, The Promised Covenant, The Redemption, His Fidelity to His Word.
But it also tells us that The Name of The Lord is terrible, because it is Holy; and concludes by admonishing us, that The Fear of The Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.
Psalm 110 is then sung.
The next Psalm (Psalm 111) sings the happiness of the Just Man, and his hopes on the day of his Lord's coming. It tells us, likewise, of the confusion of the sinner who shall have despised the Mysteries of God's love towards mankind.
Psalm 111 is then sung.
The next Psalm (Psalm 112), Laudate Pueri, is a Canticle of Praise to The Lord, Who, from His High Heaven, hath taken pity on the human race, and has vouchsafed to honour it by The Incarnation of His Own Son.
Psalm 112 is then sung.
The fifth Psalm (Psalm 113), In Exitu,recounts the prodigies witnessed under the ancient Covenant: They were figures, whose realities were to be accomplished in the mission of The Son of God, Who came to deliver Israel from Egypt, emancipate The Gentiles from their idolatry, and pour out a Blessing on every man who would consent to fear and love The Lord.
Psalm 113 is then sung.
After the five Psalms (above), a short Lesson from The Holy Scriptures is read. It is called Capitulum, or, Little Chapter, because it is always very short. Those Capitulums for the several Festivals are given in The Propers of each.
The Capitulum is then read.
Then follows the Hymn. We here give the one for Sundays (Lucis Creator). It was composed by Saint Gregory the Great. It sings of Creation, and celebrates the praises of that portion of it which was called forth on this first day, viz, The Light.
The Hymn is then sung.
The Versicle, which follows the Hymn, and which we give here, is that of the Sunday; those for the Feasts are given in their Propers.
Versicle: Dirigatur, Domine, oratio mea.
Response: Sicut incensum in conspectu tuo.
Then is said the Magnificat Antiphon, which is to be found in the Propers.
After this, The Church sings the Canticle of Mary, The Magnificat, in which are Celebrated The Divine Maternity and all its consequent Blessings. This exquisitely sweet Canticle is an essential part of The Office of Vespers. It is the Evening Incense, just as the Canticle Benedictus, at Lauds, is that of the Morning.
The Magnificat Antiphon is then repeated.
The Prayer, or, Collect, is then said. It is given in The Proper of each Feast and Sunday.
Versicle: Benedicamus Domino.
Response: Deo Gratias.
Versicle: Fidelium animæ per misericordiam Dei, requiescant in pace.
Born in the Kingdom of Aragon, in Spain, Saint Paschal in his childhood tended sheep. At the age of twenty, he entered as a Lay-Brother in the Order of Saint Francis, where he became a model of the greatest austerity, of the most complete obedience, and of the most Seraphic poverty (Epistle).
His meditation of the things of God (Introit) was so profound that he was absorbed into ecstasies of love. It gave him a knowledge of Divine things, which enabled him to speak about the most obscure Mysteries of The Faith.
He was especially celebrated for his devotion to The Blessed Sacrament (Collect), and spent hours in Prayer before the Tabernacle.
Pope Leo XIII declared him Protector of all Eucharistic Congresses and Works. Like “the servants who await the coming of their Master” (Gospel), Saint Paschal awaited the coming of Jesus at the exact hour he had foretold, 17 May 1592, at Pentecost, the anniversary of his birth, and he ascended to Heaven, following The Risen Christ.
Let us imitate the love of Saint Paschal for the Eucharist, “so that we may deserve to draw from this banquet the same abundance of Graces which he found there” (Collect).
This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at, EDWARD PENTIN
Being a Catholic in 2024 is no easy endeavour. The West is undergoing a massive de-Christianisation, so much so that Catholicism appears to be vanishing from the public sphere.
Elsewhere, the number of Christians being persecuted for their Faith is on the rise. What’s more, The Church has been struck by an internal crisis that manifests itself in a decline in Religious practice, a downswing in Priestly and Religious vocations, a decrease in Sacramental practice, and even a growing dissension between Priests, Bishops and Cardinals which, until very recently, was utterly unthinkable.
Yet, among all the things that can contribute to the internal revival of The Church and to the renewal of her missionary zeal, there is, above all, the worthy and reverent Celebration of her Liturgy, which can be greatly fostered thanks to the example and the presence of the Traditional Roman Liturgy.
Despite all the attempts that have been made to suppress it, especially during the present Pontificate, it lives on, continuing to spread and to sanctify the Christian people who are Blessed to be able to benefit from it.
It bears abundant fruits of piety, as well as an increase of vocations and of conversions. It attracts young people and is the fount of many flourishing works, especially in schools, and is accompanied by a solid catechesis.
No-one can deny that it is a vector for the preservation and transmission of The Faith and Religious practice in the midst of a waning of Religious belief and a dwindling number of believers.
This Mass, due to its venerable antiquity, can boast of having sanctified countless Souls over the Centuries. Among other vital forces still active in The Church, this form of Liturgical life stands out because of the stability given to it by an uninterrupted “Lex Orandi”.
Certainly, some places of Worship have been granted, or rather tolerated, where this Liturgy can be Celebrated, but too often what has been given by one hand is taken back by the other, without, however, ever managing to make it vanish.
Since the massive decline during the period immediately following the Second Vatican Council, every attempt has been made on numerous occasions to revive Religious practice, to increase the number of Priestly and Religious vocations, and to preserve The Faith of the Christian people.
Everything, except letting the people experience the Traditional Liturgy, by giving the Tridentine Liturgy a fair chance. Today, however, common sense urgently demands that all the vital forces in The Church be allowed to live and prosper, and in particular the one which enjoys a Right dating back to over a millennium.
Let there be no mistake: The present appeal is not a petition to obtain a new tolerance as in 1984 and 1988, nor even a restoration of the status granted in 2007 by the Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum”, which, recognising in principle a Right, has in fact been reduced to a regime of meagrely-granted permissions.
As Lay People, it is not for us to pass judgement on the Second Vatican Council, its continuity or discontinuity with the previous teaching of The Church, the merits, or not, of the reforms that resulted from it, and so on.
On the other hand, it is necessary to defend and transmit the means that Providence has employed to enable a growing number of Catholics to preserve The Faith, to grow in it, or to discover it.
The Traditional Liturgy plays an essential role in this process, thanks to its transcendence, its beauty, its timelessness and its doctrinal certainty.
For this reason, we simply ask, for the sake of the true freedom of the children of God in The Church, that the full freedom of the Traditional Liturgy, with the free use of all its Liturgical Books, be granted, so that, without hindrance, in the Latin Rite, all The Faithful may benefit from it and all Clerics may Celebrate it.
This appeal is not a petition to be signed, but a message to be disseminated, possibly to be taken up again in any form that may seem appropriate, and to be brought and explained to the Cardinals, Bishops, and Prelates, of The Universal Church.
Si Renaissance catholique a l’initiative de cette campagne, c’est uniquement pour se faire l’interprète d’un large désir en ce sens qui se manifeste dans l’ensemble du monde catholique. Cette campagne n’est pas la sienne, mais celle de tous ceux qui y participeront, la relayeront, l’amplifieront, chacun à leur manière.
Renaissance Catholique is a Paris-based movement of Lay People working to re-establish the social reign of Christ.
