singing of the New Testament canticle Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55). Compline, said just
before retiring, varied little from day to day. It began with a capitulum of 1 Peter 5:8, the
Confiteor prayer of sorrow for sin and absolution, then continued with psalms chosen for
their special appropriateness to the evening hour, sung antiphonally in the Roman Office
with one refrain, directly in the Monastic Office with no refrain. The New Testament
canticle Nunc dimittis (Luke 2:29–32) was sung antiphonally only in the Roman Office.
Though most French churches followed this outline from the 9th century on, there
were many variations from place to place. The choice of readings and chants differed
greatly from diocese to diocese and from monastery to monastery. On feasts of saints and
other commemorations, different in each local calendar, the usual psalms of each hour
were often replaced by others chosen for their textual relevance to the themes of the day.
These local uses sur-vived the Middle Ages, lasting until the 18th century, when they
were replaced by “neo-Gallican” liturgies inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment. In
the 19th century, under papal pressure, these reformed rites were suppressed and replaced
by the official Roman Breviary as revised after the Council of Trent, which itself would
be repeatedly revised and reformed during the 20th century.
Even in the Middle Ages, the official arrangement of daily services was not always
followed in practice. On fast days, when one often could not eat before None or Vespers,
there was an understandable incentive to get through the services early; a relic of this
may be seen in the modern English word “noon,” derived from the office of None even
though it designated the hour that properly belongs to Sext. Similarly, the practice of
anticipating Matins and Lauds by celebrating them after Compline enabled one to sleep
until Prime. Such tendencies were exacerbated over the course of the Middle Ages, as the
amount of material to be got through increased due to the proliferation of devotional
accretions. The Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Apostles’ Creed, and other prayers came to be
recited quietly before and after each service, and such Marian antiphons as Salve Regina
were regularly sung as each service ended. Votive or devotional offices were widely
added to the Office proper, particularly the Little Offices of the Virgin Mary. The Office
of the Dead, intended for use only in conjunction with other burial and funeral services,
was often recited every day as a penitential exercise. By the 13th century, many clergy
avoided the public celebrations of the Office (sometimes paying a vicar to take their
place), fulfilling their obligation by reading the texts privately at more convenient times,
even if that meant reading through the entire daily cycle at one sitting. In the 16th
century, private recitation became the official practice of some religious congregations,
such as the Jesuits, and in our day it is still the unofficial practice of most Catholic
secular clergy.
Peter Jeffery
[See also: CANONICAL HOURS; GALLICAN RITE]
Bradshaw, Paul F. “Cathedral vs. Monastery: The Only Alternatives for the Liturgy of the Hours?”
In Time and Community: In Honor of Thomas Julian Talley, ed. J.Neil Alexander. Washington,
D.C.: Pastoral, 1990, pp. 123–36.
——. Daily Prayer in the Early Church: A Study of the Origin and Development of the Divine
Office. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Clément, J.-M. Lexique des anciennes règles monastiques occidentales. 2 vols. Steenbrugge:
Abbaye Saint-Pierre, 1978.
Martimort, Aimé Georges, ed. The Church at Prayer: An Introduction to the Liturgy, rev. ed., trans.
Matthew J.O’Connell. Collegeville: Liturgical, 1986, Vol. 4: The Liturgy and Time.
The Encyclopedia 571