Breviary (liturgy)

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Maria Stuart's book of hours that she carried with her when she was executed

The Breviary ( Latin brevis , short), Breviarium (Romanum) , today the Book of Hours , contains the texts for the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church .

The Breviarium Romanum was replaced by the Liturgia Horarum (Book of Hours) in 1970 after the reform of the time liturgy by the Second Vatican Council . The term “breviary” is derived from the fact that the texts in the breviary used to be significantly shorter than those that were prayed during the solemn common choir prayer of the monasteries. Therefore, in the past, only those clergy who could not take part in the common choir prayer used a breviary. Today the terms breviary and book of hours are used synonymously.

Historical development of the Breviarium Romanum

Since the 9th century it can be observed that the monastic way of life in the monasteries was also transferred to the clergy outside the monastery. It emerged collegiate of cathedrals and other churches where canons lived together for quasi-monastic rules. They were required to pray the times of day. This obligation was passed on to all clerics , including solitary priests, in the 11th century . The public prayer of the hours of the church in the monasteries became the private reading prayer of the ministers with an obligatory character, the structure of the communal choral prayer with greetings and blessings and alternate prayer was also retained in the prayer of the individual clergy. Starting in Rome, handy small editions of the Liturgy of the Hours - breviarium - spread that could be taken with you on trips. The “breviary obligation” meant that the workload to be prayed was detached from its original proximity to the daily routine and was either anticipated or made up for in a single “pass”; At times, priests could even have other clerics do their breviary for a fee. Later, moral theology was even confronted with the question of "whether it was sinful to just scan the breviary with your eyes or whether you should at least move your lips while reading".

By the 16th century, various, sometimes questionable, extensions of the Liturgy of the Hours developed. In addition, “thematic” breviaries were created such as the Officium beatae Mariae virginis (“Marianic” or “Little Liturgy”), an office for the dead and an office in honor of all saints or St. Benedict , who partly doubled the daily prayer workload of the clergy.

The Spanish Franciscan Cardinal Francisco de Quiñónez (1530–1532), Bishop of Coria , prepared a breviary specially tailored to the private prayer of the pastoral clergy , on behalf of Pope Clement VII. After the titular church, Cardinal Quiñónez, it becomes the Breviary Sanctae Crucis , "Cross Breviary" , named and published in 1535, 1536 in a revised version. It was characterized by the regular volume of the hearing, a weekly schedule of the psalmody that was independent of festivals and liturgical times, the reading of the Bible, a revised selection of readings from the works of the church fathers, and the renunciation of elements of the hearing aimed at communal performance were. The Kreuzbrevier soon spread throughout Europe and also influenced the Book of Common Prayer .

The Council of Trent saw itself compelled to reform the breviary prayer juxta sanctorum patrum normam ac ritum . The first edition of the revised breviary, the Breviarium Romanum , took place in Rome in 1568 under Pope Pius V and was essentially in force for three centuries. The Kreuzbrevier was abolished and banned again; in addition to the Roman Breviary , local traditions were only permitted if they had existed for at least 200 years. In 1602 Pope Clemens VIII and in 1632 Pope Urban VIII reworked the breviary . The Marian Liturgy of the Hours was still in use as a "lay breviary" and in modern times has become the Liturgy of the Hours of many charitable congregations of sisters .

With his Apostolic Constitution Divino afflatu of November 1, 1911, Pope Pius X stepped towards an “improvement of the Roman Breviary” through “variety and diversity”. All 150 psalms now appeared in a weekly psalter in the hearing of each week, without being overlaid by the constant offices of the numerous holy feasts; the number of prayers was reduced at the same time. The use of the old breviary was prohibited by the Constitution Divino afflatu on January 1, 1913. In 1954 Pope Pius XII made minor changes to the breviary . and 1960 ( Codex Rubricarum ) Pope John XXIII. in front.

Book of hours

Pope Paul VI approved the edition of the Book of Hours (Latin Liturgia horarum ) used in the Catholic Church today . with the Apostolic Constitution Laudis canticum of November 1, 1970. This liturgical renewal was the result of the resolutions of the Constitution of the Second Vatican Council on sacred liturgy (Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium , Chapter IV., No. 83-101).

Compared to the edition valid up to then, the prayer times were considerably reduced in the revision, especially with regard to the number of psalms to be prayed weekly . The book of hours contains the prayer times Matins (or reading ears ), Laudes , Terz , Sext , Non , Vespers and Compline . The prim is omitted. The distribution of the psalms follows a four -week cycle as a four-week psalter .

Whereas the practice of the Liturgy of the Hours in Latin , also known as the breviary , was previously mandatory, the regional bishops' conferences were now able to publish translations of the breviary in the national language. The edition for the German-speaking area consists of a total of three volumes, one each for Advent and Christmas (Volume 1), Lent and Easter (Volume 2) and the time of the year (Volume 3). There are also 16 lessonaries with texts for the mother or reading teacher. Some religious orders have their own breviary editions.

Those who do not pray all times of the day (hearing) of the Liturgy of the Hours can also use the "little book of hours" which contains the texts for Lauds, Vespers, Compline and a simplified version of the little hearing . The little book of hours was published in four volumes: one each for Advent and Christmas (Volume 1), Lent and Easter (Volume 2), the time in the annual cycle (Volume 3) and one for the commemorative days of the saints (Volume 4).

Since the Motu proprio Summorum pontificum by Pope Benedict XVI , published on July 7, 2007 . the former Latin breviary can also be used again. But this is an extraordinary form of the time of day liturgy.

Text output

  • Breviarium Romanum Andreas Torresanus, Venice between 1486 and 1490 Digitized
  • Liturgia Horarum iuxta ritum Romanum (officium divinum). Editio typica altera (cum versione Novae vulgatae inserta). Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1985-1986.
    • Vol. I. Tempus Adventus - Tempus Nativitatis.
    • Vol. II. Tempus Quadragesimae - Tempus Paschale.
    • Vol. III. Tempus per annum, Hebdomadae I-XVII.
    • Vol. IV. Tempus per annum, Hebdomadae XVIII-XXIV.
  • Book of hours. The celebration of the Divine Office for the Catholic dioceses of the German-speaking area. Authentic edition for liturgical use.
    • Vol. 1. Advent and Christmas time
    • Vol. 2. Lent and Easter
    • Vol. 3. In the annual cycle
  • Salzburg Abbots Conference (ed.): Monastic Book of Hours. The celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Benedictines of the German-speaking area. Authentic edition for liturgical use . Sankt Ottilien, EOS publishing house.
    • Vol. 1. Advent and Christmas time
    • Vol. 2. Lent and Easter
    • Vol. 3. In the annual cycle
  • Breviarium Romanum - Ex decreto SS. Concilii Tridentini restitutum Summorum Pontificum cura recognitum. Cum textu psalmorum e Vulgata Bibliorum editione. Cum virtute Motu Proprio Ioannis Pp. XXIII Rubricarum instructum, diei 25 iulii 1960. Verlag Nova et vetera , 2008 (The Breviary Prayer of the Church from 1962 (Latin), new edition).

literature

  • Suitbert Bäumer : History of the Breviary. Attempt at a source-like representation of the development of the early church and the Roman office up to our day. Herder, Freiburg / Brsg. 1895.
  • Nikolaus Gihr : Prim and Compline of the Roman Breviary explained liturgically and ascetically . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1907.
  • Liborius Olaf Lumma : Liturgy in the rhythm of the day. A brief introduction to the history and practice of the Liturgy of the Hours. Regensburg 2011.
  • Franz Andreas Weißenbäck : Sacra Musica - Lexicon of Catholic Church Music. 1937.

Web links

Commons : Breviaries  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eckhard Jaschinski: Office . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 7 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1998, Sp. 1008 .
  2. ↑ Liborius Olaf Lumma: Liturgy in the rhythm of the day. A brief introduction to the history and practice of the Liturgy of the Hours. Regensburg 2011, p. 61, for the whole p. 57–59.
  3. ↑ Martin Luther : “When I was still a monk in the monastery, I had so much to do with reading, writing, preaching and singing in the church that I couldn't pray my horas canonicas for it. Therefore, if I could not pray them six days a week, I would take Saturday to myself and would not eat at noon and into the evening and pray all day. So we were poor troubled people with the Pope's decrees and statutes. Young people don't know anything about this now! ”(Table speeches N ° 5094, June 1540).
  4. ↑ Liborius Olaf Lumma: Liturgy in the rhythm of the day. A brief introduction to the history and practice of the Liturgy of the Hours. Regensburg 2011, p. 58f.
  5. ↑ Martin Klöckener: Kreuzbrevier . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 6 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1997, Sp. 452 .
  6. ↑ Johannes Schlageter: Quiñónez . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 8 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1999, Sp. 774 .
  7. ↑ Liborius Olaf Lumma: Liturgy in the rhythm of the day. A brief introduction to the history and practice of the Liturgy of the Hours. Regensburg 2011, p. 60.
  8. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Feulner: Officium parvum BMV . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 7 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1998, Sp. 1006 f .
  9. ^ Honoré Vinck: Pie X et les réformes liturgiques de 1911–1914: Psautier, bréviaire, calendrier, rubriques . Aschendorff, Münster 2014. ISBN 978-3-402-11266-3 . Pp. 129–264 on the individual elements of the Breviary reform.
  10. ↑ Liborius Olaf Lumma: Liturgy in the rhythm of the day. A brief introduction to the history and practice of the Liturgy of the Hours. Regensburg 2011, pp. 63–65.