Stand Alone Pages on 'Musings of an Old Curmudgeon'

29 July 2018

Word of the Day: Matins

MATINS. The first of the canonical hours. Now replaced since Second Vatican Council by the Office of Readings, followed by Morning Prayer. Formerly chanted during the early hours shortly after midnight by enclosed monks and nuns who alone continue Matins as such, now. (Etym. French matin, morning.)
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Whilst Father is quite correct that only cloistered monks and nuns now, at least as a general rule, chant (or recite) Matins in the middle of the night, he doesn't point out the difference between Matins and the 'Office of Readings' in McOffice.

Matins, as chanted or recited by Priests and Religious of the Traditional Orders and Institutes who use the Rubrics of His Holiness Pope John XXIII (the majority of them), contains nine Psalms every day. On ordinary days it has three readings. On Sundays and major Feasts, it has nine. There are 'independent' groups who use older Rubrics, wherein virtually every day has nine readings. The McOffice version, on the other hand, has three Psalms and two readings, invariably.

If my readers would like to compare for themselves, here is a link that will yake you to today's McOffice, and here is one to take you to the Roman Breviary Office of the Day, with a selection of Rubrics from various periods.

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