For the Anglican service of Mattins see Morning Prayer The term Anglican (from Anglia, the Latin name for England) describes the people and churches that follow the religious traditions developed by the established Church of England. ... Morning Prayer, in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, also known as Mattins or Matins, was, until the last quarter of the 20th century, the main Sunday morning service most Sundays in all but the most high church Anglican parishes, with Holy Communion being the main Sunday morning service once...

Matins is the early morning prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services. Prayer is an effort to communicate with God, or to another deity or spirit, either to offer praise, to make a request, or simply to express ones thoughts and emotions. ... The Roman Catholic Church, (also known as the Catholic Church), is the ancient Christian Church led by the Pope, the Bishop of Rome. ... ... From the Greek word λειτουργια, which can be transliterated as leitourgia, meaning the work of the people, a liturgy comprises a prescribed religious ceremony, according to the traditions of a particular religion; it may refer to, or include, an elaborate formal ritual (such as the Catholic Mass), a daily activity such... Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time, developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round (also called offices). Canonical hours also refer to the official set of prayer of the Roman Catholic Church that is known variously as the Liturgy of the... Protestantism is a movement within Christianity, representing a splitting away from the Roman Catholic Church during the mid-to-late Renaissance in Europe —a period known as the Protestant Reformation. ...

After the Second Vatican Council, the Matins of the Roman Catholic Church has been reduced in length, and is now called the Office of Readings in English translations. More importance is now given to Lauds as the Morning Prayer. The older form of prayer is being used again under episcopal permission by new Traditional Catholic communities such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was an Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ... The Roman Catholic Church, (also known as the Catholic Church), is the ancient Christian Church led by the Pope, the Bishop of Rome. ... Lauds is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. ... Traditional Catholic is a broad term used to describe many groups of Roman Catholics who follow more traditional aspects of the Catholic Faith. ... Pope Benedict XVI (then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) at an ordination of FSSP priests in Wigratzbad-Opfenbach, Germany in 1990. ... The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (Latin: Institutum Christi Regis Summi Sacerdotis) is a society of priests in the Catholic Church that celebrates the Liturgy exclusively in its traditional form according to the liturgical books promulgated before the reforms of 1965 and 1969, or what is commonly called...

Matins in Eastern Christianity

Called "Orthros" in the Eastern Churches, Matins includes the three Nocturns that once belonged to Vigils and occurs at sunrise within the traditional Orders. Nocturns (Latin: Nocturni or Nocturna) are an ancient form of Christian night prayer. ... Vigils is a term for night prayer in ancient Christianity. ...

Matins in Catholicism

From the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917; note that this describes the office before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council; the numbering system of psalms is that of the Septuagint and are said in Latin: The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was an Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... The Septuagint (LXX) is the name commonly given in the West to the Koine Greek Alexandrine text of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) produced some time between the third to first century BC. The Septuagint Bible includes additional books of the old Jewish canon beyond those contained in the... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Name

The word "Matins" (Latin: Matutinum or Matutinae), comes from Matuta, the Latin name for the Greek goddess Leucothae or Leucothea, white goddess, or goddess of the morning (Aurora): Leucothee graius, Matuta vocabere nostris, Ovid, V, 545. Hence Matutine, Matutinus, Matutinum tempus, or simply Matutinum (i.e. tempus); some of the old authors prefer Matutini Matutinorum, or Matutinae. In any case the primitive signification of the word under these different forms was Aurora, sunrise. It was at first applied to the office Lauds, which, as a matter of fact, was said at dawn (see LAUDS), its liturgical synonym being the word Gallicinium (cock-crow), which also designated this office. The night-office retained its name of Vigils, since, as a rule, Vigils and Matins (Lauds) were combined, the latter serving, to a certain extent, as the closing part of Vigils. The name Matins was then extended to the office of Vigils, Matins taking the name of Lauds, a term which, strictly speaking, only designates the last three psalms of that office, i.e. the "Laudate" psalms. At the time when this change of name took place, the custom of saying Vigils at night was observed scarcely anywhere but in monasteries, whilst elsewhere they were said in the morning, so that finally it did not seem a misapplication to give to a night Office a name which, strictly speaking, applied only to the office of day-break. The change, however, was only gradual. St. Benedict (6th century) in his description of the Divine Office, always refers to Vigils as the Night Office, whilst that of day-break he calls Matins, Lauds being the last three psalms of that office (Regula, cap. XIII-XIV; see LAUDS). The Council of Tours in 567 had already applied the title "Matins" to the Night Office: ad Matutinum sex antiphonae; Laudes Matutinae; Matutini hymni are also found in various ancient authors as synonymous with Lauds. (Hefele-Leclercq, "Hist. des Conciles", V, III, 188, 189.) Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Lauds is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. ... Vigils is a term for night prayer in ancient Christianity. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... This article is about Saint Benedict of Nursia, for other uses of the name Benedict see Benedict (disambiguation) Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time (also called offices), developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between prayers. ... Lauds is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. ... In the medieval Roman Catholic church there were several Councils of Tours, that city being an old seat of Christianity, and considered fairly centrally located in France. ... Karl Josef von Hefele (March 15, 1809 - June 6, 1893), German theologian, was born at Unterkochen in Württemberg, and was educated at Tübingen, where in 1839 he became professor-ordinary of Church history and patristics in the [Roman Catholic] faculty of theology. ...

Origin (matins and vigils)

The word Vigils, at first applied to the Night Office, also comes from a Latin source, both as to the term and its use, namely the Vigiliae or nocturnal watches or guards of the soldiers. The night from six o'clock in the evening to six o'clock in the morning was divided into four watches or vigils of three hours each, the first, the second, the third, and the fourth vigil. From the liturgical point of view and in its origin, the use of the term was very vague and elastic. Generally it designated the nightly meetings, synaxes, of the Christians. Under this form, the watch (Vigil) might be said to date back as early as the beginning of Christianity. It was either on account of the secrecy of their meetings, or because of some mystical idea which made the middle of the night the hour par excellence for prayer, in the words of the psalm: media nocte surgebam ad confitendum tibi, that the Christians chose the night time for their synaxes, and of all other nights, preferably the Sabbath. There is an allusion to it in the Acts of the Apostles (xx, 4), as also in the letter of Pliny the Younger. The liturgical services of these synaxes was composed of almost the same elements as that of the Jewish Synagogue: readings from the Books of the Law, singing of psalms, divers prayers. What gave them a Christian character was the fact that they were followed by the Eucharistic service, and that to the reading from the Law, the apostles and the Acts of the Apostles was very soon added, as well as the Gospels and sometimes other books which were non-canonical, as, for example, the Epistles of Saint Clement, that of Saint Barnabas, the Apocalypse of Saint Peter, etc. This article concerns the Sabbath in Christianity. ... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ... Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (63-ca. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... A synagogue (בית כנסת beit knesset in Hebrew meaning a house of assembly or שול shul in Yiddish) is a Jewish place of religious worship. ... Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... For the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus, see Apostles See also London Arch (formerly London Bridge) Loch Ard Gorge The Gibson Steps The Grotto Categories: Australia geography stubs | Cliffs | Geography of Australia ... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ... For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ... ... Barnabas was an early Christian mentioned in the New Testament. ... The recovered Apocalypse of Peter or Revelation of Peter is extant in two translations of a lost original, one Greek, one Ethiopic, which diverge considerably. ...

The more solemn watches, which were held on the anniversaries of martyrs or on certain feasts, were also known by this title, especially during the 3rd century and 4th century. The Vigil in this case was also called pannychis, because the greater part of the night was devoted to it. Commenced in the evening, they only terminated the following morning, and comprised, in addition to the Eucharistic Supper, homilies, chants, and divers offices. These last Vigils it was that gave rise to certain abuses, and they were finally abolished in the Church (see VIGILS). Notwithstanding this, however, the Vigils, in their strictest sense of Divine Office of the Night, were maintained and developed. Among writers from the 4th century to the 6th century we find several descriptions of them. The "De Virginitate", a fourth-century treatise, gives them as immediately following Lauds. The author, however, does not determine the number of psalms which had to be recited. Methodius in his "Banquet of Virgins" (Symposion sive Convivium decem Virginum) subdivided the Night Office or pannychis into watches, but it is difficult to determine what he meant by these nocturnes. St. Basil also gives a very vague description of the Night Office or Vigils, but in terms which permit us to conclude that the psalms were sung, sometimes by two choirs, and sometimes as responses. John Cassian gives us a more detailed account of the Night Office of the 5th century monks. The number of psalms, which at first varied, was subsequently fixed at twelve, with the addition of a lesson from the Old Testament and another from the New Testament. St. Jerome defended the Vigils against the attacks of Vigilantius, but it is principally concerning the watches at the Tombs of the Martyrs that he speaks in his treatise, "Contra Vigilantium". Of all the descriptions the most complete is that in the "Peregrinatio AEtheriae" the author of which assisted at Matins in the Churches of Jerusalem, where great solemnity was displayed. (For all these texts, see Bäumer-Biron, loc. cit., p. 79, 122, 139, 186, 208, 246, etc.) Other allusions are to be found in Caesaurius of Arles, Nicetiuis or Nicetae of Treves, and Gregory of Tours (see Baumer-Biron, loc. cit., I, 216, 227, 232). // Overview Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east, 230 - 232 Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire Emperor Valerian I is taken captive by the Persian King of Kings Shapur I, 260 End of Yayoi era and beginning of... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... The Eucharist is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesus instruction, recorded in the New Testament, to do in memory of him what he did at his Last Supper. ... Vigils is a term for night prayer in ancient Christianity. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... The Church Father and Saint Methodius of Olympus (? – c. ... The Night Hours are the fixed times of prayer in the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church, that take place after sunset and before sunrise. ... Nocturns (Latin: Nocturni or Nocturna) are an ancient form of Christian night prayer. ... Basil (ca. ... John Cassian (c. ... // Overview Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor 410: Rome sacked by Visigoths 452: Pope Leo I allegedly meets personally with Attila the Hun and convinces him not to sack Rome 439: Vandals conquer Carthage At some point after 440, the Anglo-Saxons settle in Britain. ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh, but not Old Testament, because it does not recognize the concept of a New Testament. ... // What is the New Testament? The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ... For other uses see: Jerome (disambiguation) Jerome (about 340 - September 30, 420), (full name Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. ... In early Chistian history, Egeria, also known as Ætheria, is the name of a nun who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land about the 380s, taking about three years to do it, and who wrote a long letter to her beloved community of nuns at home (somewhere not far... Emblem of the Municipality of Jerusalem Jerusalem and the Old City. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Gregory of Tours (c. ...

The elements of matins from the fourth to the sixth century

In all the authors we have quoted, the form of Night Prayers would appear to have varied a great deal. Nevertheless in these descriptions, and in spite of certain differences, we find the same elements repeated: the psalms generally chanted in the form of responses, that is to say by one or more cantors, the choir repeating one verse, which served as a response, alternately with the verses of psalms which were sung by the cantors; readings taken from the Old and the New Testament, and later on, from the works of the Fathers and doctors; litanies or supplications; prayer for the divers members of the Church, clergy, faithful, neophytes, and catechumens; for emperors; travellers; the sick; and generally for all the necessities of the Church, and even prayer for Jews and for heretics. [Baumer, Litanie u. Missal, in "Studien des Benediktinerordens", II (Raigern, 1886), 287, 289.] It is quite easy to find these essential elements in our modern Matins. The word Cantor can mean more than one thing: Cantor is another name for a Hazzan, a member of the Jewish clergy Cantor is the title of a member of a student society who is the main singer at a cantus Famous people named Cantor include: Eddie Cantor, singer & entertainer... A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ... Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh, but not Old Testament, because it does not recognize the concept of a New Testament. ... // What is the New Testament? The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ... The Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian church, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history. ... A litany, in Christian worship, is a form of prayer used in church services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... In Warhammer 40,000 a Neophyte is a Space Marine in training. ... Catechumen (from Latin catechumenus, Greek carijxobucvos, instructed) is an ecclesiastical term applied to those receiving instruction in the principles of the Christian religion with a view to baptism. ...

Matins in the roman and other liturgies

In the modern Roman Liturgy, Matins, on account of its length, the position it occupies, and the matter of which it is composed, may be considered as the most important office of the day, and for the variety and richness of its elements the most remarkable. It commences more solemnly than the other offices, with a psalm (Ps. xciv) called the Invitatory, which is chanted or recited in the form of a response, in accordance with the most ancient custom. The hymns, which have been but tardily admitted into the Roman Liturgy, as well as the hymns of the other hours, form part of a very ancient collection which, so far at least as some of them are concerned, may be said to pertain to the 7th or even to the 6th century. As a rule they suggest the symbolic signification of this Hour (see No. V), the prayer of the middle of the night. This principal form of the Office should be distinguished from the Office of Sunday, of Feasts, and the ferial or week day Office. The Sunday Office is made up of the invitatory, hymn, three nocturns, the first of which comprises twelve psalms, and the second and third three psalms each; nine lessons, three to each nocturn, each lesson except the ninth being followed by a response; and finally, the canticle Te Deum, which is recited or sung after the ninth lesson instead of a response. The Office of Feasts is similar to that of Sunday, except that there are only three psalms to the first nocturn instead of twelve. The week-day or ferial office and that of simple feasts are composed of one nocturn only, with twelve psalms and three lessons. The Office of the Dead and that of the three last days of Holy Week are simpler, the absolutions, benedictions, and invitatory being omitted, at least for the three last days of Holy Week, since the invitatory is said in the Offices of the Dead. Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article (The Latin Rite), is a term by which documents of the Catholic Church designate the particular Church, distinct from the Eastern Rite Churches, that developed in western Europe and northern Africa, where Latin was the language of... The Invitatory is a psalm, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text , used to start Matins in the Divine Office. ... A hymn is a song specifically written as a song of praise, adoration or prayer, typically addressed to a god. ... A hymn is a song specifically written as a song of praise, adoration or prayer, typically addressed to a god. ... // Overview Events The Roman-Persian Wars end. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time, developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round (also called offices). Canonical hours also refer to the official set of prayer of the Roman Catholic Church that is known variously as the Liturgy of the... Feria refers to a day on the Liturgical calendar on which no feast is observed. ... A canticle is a hymn (strictly excluding the Psalms) taken from the Bible. ... Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. ... The Office of the Dead was an office traditionally read before a burial mass in the Roman Catholic Church. ... Holy Week is the Christian week from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday. ... A benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually after a church worship service. ...

The principal characteristics of this office which distinguish it from all the other offices are as follows:

The Psalms used at Matins are made up of a series commencing with Psalm i and running without intermission to Psalm cviii inclusive. The order of the Psalter is followed almost without interruption, except in the case of feasts, when the Psalms are chosen according to their signification, but always from the series i-cviii, the remaining Psalms being reserved for Vespers and the other Offices. The Lessons form a unique element, and in the other Offices give place to a Capitulum or short lesson. This latter has possibly been introduced only for the sake of symmetry, and in its present form, at any rate, gives but a very incomplete idea of what the true reading or lesson is. The Lessons of Matins on the contrary are readings in the proper sense of the term: they comprise the most important parts of the Old and the New Testament, extracts from the works of the principal Doctors of the Church, and legends of the martyrs or of the other saints. The lessons from Holy Scripture are distributed in accordance with certain fixed rules (rubrics) which assign such or such books of the Bible to certain seasons of the year. In this manner extracts from all the Books of the Bible are read at the Office during the year. The idea, however, of having the whole Bible read in the Office, as proposed by several reformers of the Breviary, more especially during the 17th and 18th centuries, has never been regarded favourably by the Church, which views the Divine Office as a prayer and not as an object of study for the clergy. The Invitatory and, on certain days, the Finale or Te Deum also form one of the principal characteristics of this Office. The Responses, more numerous in this Office, recall the most ancient form of psalmody; that of the psalm chanted by one alone and answered by the whole choir, as opposed to the antiphonic form, which consists in two choirs alternately reciting the psalms. The division into three or two Nocturns is also a special feature of Matins, but it is impossible to say why it has been thought by some to be a souvenir of the military watches (there were not three, but four, watches) or even of the ancient Vigils, since ordinarily there was but one meeting in the middle of the night. The custom of rising three times for prayer could only have been in vogue, as exceptional, in certain monasteries, or for some of the more solemn feasts (see Nocturns). In the Office of the Church of Jerusalem, of which the pilgrim Ætheria gives us a description, the Vigils on Sundays terminate with the solemn reading of the Gospel, in the Grotto of the Holy Sepulchre. This practice of reading the Gospel has been preserved in the Benedictine Liturgy. It is a matter for regret that in the Roman Liturgy this custom, so ancient and so solemn, is no longer represented but by the Homily. The Ambrosian Liturgy, better perhaps than any other, has preserved traces of the great Vigils or pannychides, with their complex and varied display of processions, psalmodies, etc. (cf. Dom Cagin; "Paleographie Musicale", vol. VI, p. 8, sq.; Paul Lejay; Ambrosien (rit.) in "Dictionnaire d'Archeol. Chret. et de Liturgie", vol. I, p. 1423 sq.). The same Liturgy has also preserved Vigils of long psalmody. This Nocturnal Office adapted itself at a later period to a more modern form, approaching more and more closely to the Roman Liturgy. Here too are found the three Nocturns, with Antiphon, Psalms, Lessons, and Responses, the ordinary elements of the Roman Matins, and with a few special features quite Ambrosian. In the Benedictine Office, Matins, like the text of the Office, follows the Roman Liturgy quite closely. The number of psalms, viz. twelve, is always the same, there being three or two Nocturns according to the degree of solemnity of the particular Office celebrated. Ordinarily there are four Lessons, followed by their responses, to each Nocturn. The two most characteristic features of the Benedictine Matins are: the Canticles of the third Nocturn, which are not found in the Roman Liturgy, and the Gospel, which is sung solemnly at the end, the latter trait, as already pointed out, being very ancient. In the Mozarabic Liturgy (q.v.), on the contrary, Matins are made up of a system of Antiphons, Collects, and Versicles which make them quite a departure from the Roman system. In Roman Catholicism, a Doctor of the Church is a theologian from whose teachings the whole Christian church is held to have derived great advantage and to whom eminent learning and great sanctity have been attributed by a proclamation of the Pope or of an ecumenical council. ... The Bible (tanak/h in hebrew language) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity... 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. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... The Invitatory is a psalm, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text , used to start Matins in the Divine Office. ... This article is about the musical term. ... Nocturns (Latin: Nocturni or Nocturna) are an ancient form of Christian night prayer. ... Nocturns (Latin: Nocturni or Nocturna) are an ancient form of Christian night prayer. ... In early Chistian history, Egeria, also known as Ætheria, is the name of a nun who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land about the 380s, taking about three years to do it, and who wrote a long letter to her beloved community of nuns at home (somewhere not far... For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ... Main Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, called the Church of the Resurrection (Anastasis in Greek and Սուրբ Õ€Õ¡Ö€Õ¸Ö‚Õ©ÕµÕ¸Ö‚Õ¶ Surp Harutyun in Armenian) by Eastern Christians, is a Christian church... ... Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article, refers to the sui juris particular Church of the Roman Catholic Church that developed in the area of western Europe and northern Africa where Latin was for many centuries the language of education and culture. ... In the Roman Catholic Church A homily is usually given during mass at the end of the Liturgy of the Word. ... Ambrosian Rite (also sometimes called the Milanese rite) named after Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan in the fourth century, is a series of Catholic liturgical rites practised among Catholics in the greater part of the diocese of Milan (excluding notably the city of Monza), and neighbouring area, including some five... Vigils is a term for night prayer in ancient Christianity. ... This article is about the musical term. ... A canticle is a hymn (strictly excluding the Psalms) taken from the Bible. ... The Mozarabic rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. ...

Signification and symbolism

From the foregoing it is clear that Matins remains the principal Office of the Church, and the one which, in its origin, dates back the farthest, as far as the Apostolic ages, as far even as the very inception of the Church. It is doubtless, after having passed through a great many transformations, the ancient Night Office, the Office of the Vigil. In a certain sense it is, perhaps, the Office which was primitively the preparation for the Mass, that is to say, the Mass of the Catechumens, which presents at any rate the same construction as that Office:--the reading from the Old Testament, then the epistles and the Acts, and finally the Gospel--the whole being intermingled with psalmody, and terminated by the Homily (cf. Cabrol: "Les Origines Liturgiques", Paris, 1906, 334 seq.). If for a time this Office appeared to be secondary to that of Lauds or Morning Office, it is because the latter, originally but a part of Matins, drew to itself the solemnity, probably on account of the hour at which it was celebrated, permitting all the faithful to be present. According to another theory suggested by the testimony of Lactantius, St. Jerome, and St. Isidore, the Christians, being ignorant of the date of Christ's coming, thought He would return during the middle of the night, and most probably the night of Holy Saturday or Easter Sunday, at or about the hour when He arose from the sepulchre. Hence the importance of the Easter Vigil, which would thus have become the model or prototype of the other Saturday Vigils, and incidentally of all the nightly Vigils. The idea of the Second Advent would have given rise to the Easter Vigil, and the latter to the office of the Saturday Vigil (Batiffol, "Hist. du Bréviaire", 3). The institution of the Saturday Vigil would consequently be as ancient as that of Sunday. Vigils is a term for night prayer in ancient Christianity. ... Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) presiding at the 2005 Easter Vigil Mass in place of Pope John Paul II. Mass is the term used of the celebration of the Eucharist in the Latin rites of the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church. ... The Mass (or Liturgy) of the Catechumens is an ancient title for the first half of the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox worship service known as the Mass. ... Lucius Caelius (or Caecilius?) Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author who wrote in Latin (around A.D. 240 - around 320). ... , by Albrecht Dürer Saint Jerome (ca. ... It has been suggested that Isidro be merged into this article or section. ... This page is about the title, for the Christian figure, see Jesus Christ is the English representation of the Greek word Χριστός (transliterated as Khristós), which means anointed. ... Orthodox pilgrims bathing with the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Holy Saturday. ... Easter (also called Pascha) is generally accounted the most important holiday of the Christian year, observed March or April each year to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead (after his death by crucifixion; see Good Friday), which Christians believe happened at about this time of year, almost two... The Easter Vigil, also called the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. ... Advent (from the Latin Adventus, sc. ... The Easter Vigil, also called the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. ...

See also

• Canonical hours
• Prime
• Lauds
• Terce
• Sext
• None
• Vespers
• Compline
• Vigils
• Night Hours
• Book of Hours

Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time, developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round (also called offices). Canonical hours also refer to the official set of prayer of the Roman Catholic Church that is known variously as the Liturgy of the... Prime is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office, said at 6 a. ... Lauds is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. ... Terce is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Sext is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ... Compline or Complin is the final church service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. ... Vigils is a term for night prayer in ancient Christianity. ... The Night Hours are the fixed times of prayer in the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church, that take place after sunset and before sunrise. ... A illuminated page from the Très Riches Heures showing the day for exchanging gifts from the month of January A Book of Hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. ...

External links

• Sunday Orthos, Greek Orthodox Church in America
• Byzantine Catholic Daily Prayer
• Office of Readings from Universalis (for private devotional use, translations are not official)

This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Catholic Encyclopedia (also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia today) is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 by the The Encyclopedia Press, designed to give authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. // History The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11...