The Liturgical Drama of the Fore-Office

Having received some very thoughtful feedback both privately and publicly on my most recent post regarding the Ordinariate’s fore-office versus the 1662 Book of Common Prayer’s penitential rite, I have been prompted to reflect more deeply on the theological importance of the integrity of the fore-office, and why taking its elements solely on an individual basis runs the risk of damaging or destroying the single, holistic liturgico-dramatic movement that the fore-office is intended to perform. Continue reading →

The Ordinariate’s Divine Office and the Penitential Rite

In a previous post, I discussed the most basic problem with the Ordinariate divine office drafts: an acute case of “optionitis,” leading to needless complications and reinventions of the wheel when the whole genius of the Prayer Book tradition lies in its simplicity. In this next iteration of the series, I will look at one … Continue reading →

Best Hymnal for the Liturgy of the Hours

In my previous post, I discussed the ongoing revision of the Liturgy of the Hours, whose Second Edition is going to be significantly more faithful to the Latin, and which will restore — really, make available for the first time in English in an official breviary — the original hymnody of the Latin edition. When … Continue reading →

Revised Liturgy of the Hours — What Do We Know?

Many of those who pray the liturgy of the hours in the ordinary form of the Roman rite have heard of, and are excited about, the U.S. Bishops’ ongoing revision that will result in the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition for use in the U.S. and some other countries, at some currently-unknown future date (according … Continue reading →

Making the Ordinariate’s Divine Office Better: Simplicity

The three ordinariates established under the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus still await their approved divine offices to supplement the Divine Worship Mass and have a complete liturgical life. I used to think Rome just needs to get over its bureaucratic inertia, hurry up and approve the drafts currently in front of them. Having now had a … Continue reading →

Divine Worship: The Psychological Difficulties

Yesterday was the Eve of St. James the Apostle, furnished with a proper First Evensong on the Ordinariates’ liturgical calendar. When I took a look at the first lesson for last night’s Evensong, appointed to be 2 Kings 1:1-15, I was a little surprised to see that the immediately following verse 16, which forms an … Continue reading →

Dubium: Should We “Save the Simplex?”

This invitation to discussion is for those who already have a basic familiarity with the evolution of the Roman rite in the 20th century through the reforms of Popes St. Pius X, Ven. Pius XII, and St. John XXIII. Take by way of example the ranking of feasts, and different “rites” of celebrating the divine … Continue reading →