A New Edition of the Monastic Breviary from Farnborough Abbey

We are glad to share this notice from the abbey of St Michael in Farnborough, England, about their new republication of the Monastic Breviary. It may be purchased at a special pre-order price at this link: https://www.theabbeyshop.com/product/breviarium-monasticum. Orders will ship in February of next year.

Many readers of the NLM will be familiar with the extremely popular Monastic Diurnal in Latin & English. The St Michael’s Abbey Press has been publishing that title for about 20 years now, and it is now in its 8th edition. We are therefore delighted to announce that, after some years of preparation, we are publishing a full Breviarium Monasticum - the 1962 Monastic Breviary in two volumes in Latin only. These volumes contain everything necessary to follow the entire Monastic Office including the Office of Matins, which is not given in the diurnal.

The St Michael’s Monastic Breviary is a reprint of the Marietti edition of 1962. Marietti were a very high quality Italian liturgical publishers founded in 1820. They were known both for the quality of their bindings, and also the beauty of the text itself. The 1962 Breviarium Monasticum is an excellent example of the quality of their work: the text is clear and readable, including “Liturgical Movement” style titles, arguably the breviary’s most distinctive feature.

As well as its beauty, another feature of this edition is its practicality: it reduces flipping backwards and forwards to a minimum- each office in the psalter gives all the texts necessary. For example, the daily psalms 66, 50, and 148-150, together with the Benedictus are printed in full for Lauds each day. Other editions would constantly (and sometimes frustratingly) refer you to different pages. It also includes several appendices, such as preparation & thanksgiving for Mass, various useful blessings, litanies, brief formulas for the sacraments, the last rites, &c.

Printed on bible paper, in black and red throughout and with gilt edges and six marker ribbons, our edition builds on the original Marietti beauty with several touches: custom endpapers unique to our publications, raised bands on the spine, the arms of the Abbey together with the title and volume number stamped in gold, and covers embossed with the medal of St Benedict. It is of a size that sits comfortably in the hand, sits open easily, not too heavy, and a generally pleasant book to handle and use.

The Breviary is available in two versions: with a zip case closing, or a traditional binding with a hard slipcase included. Both editions are leather bound, and extremely robust. A monk would traditionally spend several hours of his day praying the breviary, and so these volumes are intended to stand up to that level of daily wear and tear.

In buying the Breviarium Monasticum (and other titles) from the St. Michael’s Abbey Press you are also supporting a flourishing 140-year-old contemplative Benedictine Community of ten monks, in full Communion with the Church, celebrating the monastic liturgy in Latin, with a proud tradition of Gregorian chant. Buying our produce enables us to continue our life of prayer and work within the monastic enclosure. Thank you.

New Mosaics at St Michael’s Abbey in California

For almost four years, the Norbertine community of St Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California, having long outgrown its original church, has been building a much larger and more beautiful new church. A large gallery of pictures documenting the progress of this wonderful project can be seen on their website; here are some photographs of the newly unveiled mosaic work in the apse of the church, which we reproduce from their Facebook page with their kind permission.

The first celebration of Vespers with the new mosaic finally installed.

St Norbert, the founder of the Premonstratensian Order, was a great promotor of devotion to the Immaculate Conception. On the outer arch, we see the Virgin Mary crowned by Christ with a crown of twelve stars, the Archangel Michael, the church’s patron, to the left, slaying the dragon, and the Archangel Gabriel with a lily in his hand to the right. On the upper arch are written in Latin the words of Apocalypse 12, 1, “A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”, and on the lower arch verse 12, 7, “And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels.”

Five of the Twelve Apostles on the entrados arch.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

A Premonstratensian Mass of the Epiphany

We received a late submission of Epiphany photos, but one which deserves its own separate post, since it gives us a chance to enjoy something a little unusual, a Solemn Mass celebrated in the Premonstratensian Rite. These come to us courtesy of Mr Adhika Lie from the church of Ss Peter and Paul in Wilmington, California, which is staffed by the Norbertine Canons of St Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, one of the most vibrant young religious communities in the United States today. The photos show us very nicely some of the proper customs which distinguish the Premonstratensian Use from the Roman.

At the first “Dominus vobiscum”, the deacon kneels and elevates the front of the priest’s chasuable, as seen here. In The Liturgies of the Religious Orders, Archdale King writes that this was also done by the Cistercians and in some local Uses, but that the custom was in his time (1955) “very generally disregarded.”

The deacon and subdeacon bowing their heads at the Collect.

The subdeacon singing the Epistle.

The subdeacon bringing the burse and corporal to the altar, and in the photo below, setting the corporal on the altar. In medieval Uses, it was commonly the practice to prepare the altar and the chalice either during the Epistle, or between the Epistle and Gospel.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

JT on: The Premonstratensians Top the Charts

Take a look at this. The new CD of the Norbertines of St. Michael's Abbey in Orange County, California, was climbing higher and higher after the release yesterday, when suddenly Amazon ran out. I guess the company underestimated the intense and growing demand for Gregorian music--which would hardly make the company unusual!

Overnight, Amazon scrambled and it is now back in stock. The singing on the CD is so very beautiful, and thoroughly authentic. You can detect the sense of familiarity with the music, one you just can't get from professionals as versus monks who sing this music every day. There is a real confidence in what they do. This year, you might consider adding this CD to your Christmas listening lineup.

This CD in particular has interesting selections: the propers from Christmas Masses: midnight, dawn, and day. I like this idea since this is Norbertine chant (see this piece on the Premonstratensians/Norbertines) and helps chant geeks like me compare their chants to the Graduale Romanum versions. The essential structure of the music is the same but there are differences in application, just as with Dominican, Cistercian, and Franciscan chant.

I received a question the other day in my in box about all this. The question was whether Cistercian chant, for example, is Gregorian chant. The answer is yes. It is all Gregorian chant. There are different uses of the chant that are traditional to some particular orders. Interestingly, these monastic versions of the Gregorian books never needed to be reformed after Pius X called for reform, simply because this chant was never corrupted in the way Roman chant was after Trent.

The reconstruction efforts that began in the late 19th century depended heavily on these monastic traditions to point the way to authenticity. So we owe much to these traditions. To tell you the truth, the casual listener would not be able to tell the difference. It all sounds Gregorian. Only if you know the pieces really well or are following the neumes closely on the printed page can you tell the differences.

In any case, it is very exciting that the US has produced it own version of best-selling chant. It seems poised to do very well in the marketplace. Whether you will or will not hear these Mass propers in your parish this year, you can become familiar with them in the way many generations of Christians have been.

This way, for example, when you hear the sound of "Puer Natus est..." you can just know that it means it's Christmas Day.

Here is the Norbertine page at Jade Records.

Here is a YouTube about the release.