Breviary

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A breviary (from Latin brevis, 'short' or 'concise') is a liturgical book containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially for priests, in the Divine Office (i.e., at the canonical hours or Liturgy of the Hours, the Christians' daily prayer).

This word breviary (Lat. Breviarium), signifies in its primary acceptation an abridgment, or a compendium. It is often employed in this sense by Christian authors, e.g. Breviarium fidei, Breviarium in psalmos, Breviarium canonum, Breviarium regularum. In litugical language Breviary has a special meaning, indicating a book furnishing the regulations for the celebration of Mass or the canonical Office, and may be met with under the titles Breviarium Ecclesiastici Ordinis, or Breviarium Ecclesiæ Rominsæ (Romanæ). In the ninth century Alcuin uses the word to designate an office abridged or simplified for the use of the laity. Prudentius of Troyes, about the same period, composed a Breviarium Psalterii (v. inf. V. HISTORY). In an ancient inventory occurs Breviarium Antiphonarii, meaning "Extracts from the Antiphonary". In the "Vita Aldrici" occurs "sicut in plenariis et breviariis Ecclesiæ ejusdem continentur". Again, in the inventories in the catalogues, such notes as these may be met with: "Sunt et duo cursinarii et tres benedictionales Libri; ex his unus habet obsequium mortuorum et unus Breviarius", or, "Præter Breviarium quoddam quod usque ad festivitatem S. Joannis Baptistæ retinebunt", etc. Monte Cassino about A.D. 1100 obtained a book entitled "Incipit Breviarium sive Ordo Officiorum per totam anni decursionem"

From such references, and from others of a like nature, Quesnel gathers that by the word Breviarium was at first designated a book furnishing the rubrics, a sort of Ordo. The title Breviary, as we employ it -- that is, a book containing the entire canonical office -- appears to date from the eleventh century.

St. Gregory VII having, indeed, abridged the order of prayers, and having simplified the Liturgy as performed at the Roman Court, this abridgment received the name of Breviary, which was suitable, since, according to the etymology of the word, it was an abridgment. The name has been extended to books which contain in one volume, or at least in one work, liturgical books of different kinds, such as the Psalter, the Antiphonary, the Responsoriary, the Lectionary, etc. In this connection it may be pointed out that in this sense the word, as it is used nowadays, is illogical; it should be named a Plenarium rather than a Breviarium, since, liturgically speaking, the word Plenarium exactly designates such books as contain several different compilations united under one cover. This is pointed out, however, simply to make still clearer the meaning and origin of the word; and section V will furnish a more detailed explanation of the formation of the Breviary.

Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 Breviaries according the Curial or Roman use 5 Breviaries according Pre-Tridentine Usages outside of Rome 6 Contemporary liturgies of the hours

[edit] History

The canonical hours of the Breviary owe their remote origin to the Old Covenant when God commanded the Aaronic priests to offer morning and evening sacrifices. Other inspiration may have come from David's words in the Psalms "Seven times a day I praise you" (Ps. 119:164), as well as, "the just man meditates on the law day and night" (Ps. 1:2).

Before the rise of the mendicant orders (wandering friars) in the thirteenth century, the daily services were usually contained in a number of large volumes. The first occurrence of a single manuscript of the daily office was written by the Benedictine order at Monte Cassino in Italy in 1099. By a strange twist, the Benedictines were not a mendicant order, but a stable, monastery-based order, and single-volume breviaries are rare from this early period.

The arrangement of the Psalms in the Rule of St. Benedict had a profound impact upon the breviaries used by secular and monastic clergy alike, up until 1911 when Pope St. Pius X introduced his reform of the Roman Breviary. In many places, every diocese, order or ecclesiastical province maintained its own edition of the breviary.

However, mendicant friars travelled around a lot and needed a shortened, or abbreviated, daily office contained in one portable book, and single-volume breviaries flourished from the thirteenth century onwards.

These abbreviated volumes soon became very popular and eventually supplanted the Roman Catholic Church's Curia office, previously said by non-monastic clergy.

Before the advent of printing, breviaries were written by hand and were often richly decorated with initials and miniature illustrations telling stories in the lives of Christ or the saints, or stories from the Bible.

Later printed breviaries usually have woodcut illustrations, interesting in their own right but the poor relation of the beautifully illuminated breviaries.

The word breviary can also refer to an abridged version of any text, a brief account or a summary of some subject.

[edit] See also

• Liturgy of the Hours
• Little Office of Our Lady

[edit] References

• Kellerbook.com: Information concerning the development of breviaries and psalters]
• A history of the Divine Office/Breviary from EWTN

[edit] Breviaries according the Curial or Roman use

• The 1908 Roman Breviary in English (Pre-Pius X Psalter), Winter (part 1)
• The 1908 Roman Breviary in English (Pre-Pius X Psalter), Spring (part 2)
• The 1908 Roman Breviary in English (Pre-Pius X Psalter), Summer (part 3)
• The 1908 Roman Breviary in English (Pre-Pius X Psalter), Autumn/Fall (part 4)
• The 1911 Roman Breviary in English
• Canonical Hours according to the 1911 Breviarium Romanum without the festal propers of Common of the Saints
• Breviarium Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum,Pars Verna(1799)
• Breviarium Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum,Pars Hiemalis(1799)
• Breviarium Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum, Pars Autumnalis (1799)
• Breviarium Romanum, Pars Autumnalis (1828)
• Breviarium Romanum, Pars Aestiva (1828)
• Breviarium Romanum, Pars Autumnalis (1861)
• The Breviary of Quignonez (1537)
• The 1960 Breviarium Romanum promulgated by Pope John XXIII

[edit] Breviaries according Pre-Tridentine Usages outside of Rome

• Breviarium Aberdonense (The Aberdeen Breviary) part 1
• Breviarium Aberdonense (The Aberdeen Breviary) part 2
• The Colbertine Breviary
• The Hereford Breviary
• Breviarium ad usum insignis ecclesiae Sarum (The Sarum Breviary)
• Breviarium ad usum insignis Ecclesie Eboracensis (The York Breviary)
• Breviary offices from lauds to compline inclusive, tr. from the Sarum book supplemented by Gallican and Monastic Uses
• Breviaries according the the diocesan usages of France including that of Nantes, Orleans, Rheims, etc.
• Breviarium Parisiense, Pars Verna (The Paris Breviary)
• Breviarium Gothicum (The Mozarabic Breviary part 1)
• Breviarium Gothicum (The Mozarabic Breviary part 2)
• Breviarium Sacrum Ordinum Cartusiensis (The Carthusian Breviary)

[edit] Contemporary liturgies of the hours

• Universalis Online Breviary
• Liturgy of the Hours by eBreviary (A5 size booklet arrangement for those requiring print-outs, whether for individual Hours or all the Hours of a day combined)
• Liturgy of the Carthusian Order of the Catholic Church

Traditional Liturgical Hours of the Catholic Church
Matins	Lauds	Prime	Terce	Sext	None	Vespers	Compline