Newspaper Page Text
NOVEMBER 10, 1956.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
NINE
Breviary Reform, Topic Of Special-
(Continued from Page Eight)
Church’s public prayer, which
.was also participated in by the
Christian communityto a greater
or lesser degree. It was a simple
framework, corresponding to the
basic prayer needs of the Christ
ian community, including the cler
gy-
Under monastic influence the
so-called “little hours,” conse
crating the various parts of the
day, were developed and gradu
ally added to the diocesan clergy’s
office, with results that would
have proved less than happy.
For one thing, because of its
-complexity, it was no longer suit
able for the laity, who before
long began to lose contact even
with .the original public morning
and evening prayers, Lauds and
Vespers.
As for the diocesan clergy, who
were unable to observe the ex
act schedule of the many hours*
the whole idea of saying certain
prayers at certain times of the
day to become formality. Lump
ing the hours together became a
normal procedure and the basip
psychological, as well as spiritual,
importance of Lauds as morning
prayer and of Vespers as evening
prayer was lost in the process. In
fact, many zealous priests nowa
days as a matter of course antici
pate the morning prayer of Lauds
in the evening and recite the
evening prayer of Vespers in the
morning to be sure to get their
office said for the day.
To restore the “basic sincerity”
of the Divine Office as the daily
prayer of the Church and of the
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priest, it would seem imperative
to restore at least Lauds and Ves
pers to their proper function. In
other words, priests should be
obliged to pray Lauds in the early
forenoon and Vespers in the after
noon or evening.
As for the little hours, Prime,
Terce, Sext, and None, it is gen
erally admitted that it is impos
sible for the priests in the active
ministry to recite them in their
present form at even approxi
mately the right times. And yet
to omit them entirely, as some
have suggested, would be to ig
nore the tradition of more than
a thousand years. They are, more
over, too meaningful as a reali
zation, however impex'fect, of
Christ’s command to “pray al
ways” and as an earthly echo
of the “unceasing praise” of hea
ven to be scrapped so casually.
But, as Cardinal Lercaro point
ed out, the little hours could
agafti be made truly “little”, that
is so brief and with such unvary
ing content—the hymn, the same
psalm for every day of the week,
the Kyrie and Pater—that even
the most active priest could with
a minimum of effort say this
Terce by heart as a sort of “coffee
break” in the forenoon or his
Sext in connection with a visit
to church at noon.
And what about the people?
The breviary is the praj^er of the
entire Church and logically this
would demand that the Christian
community should have an oppor
tunity to take part. That they
did so in earlier centuries, that
they could and did join in the
public morning and evening
prayers, Lauds and Vespers, is
historically certain. And that
there is a growing desire among
the laity of our own time to
“pray with the Church” is equal
ly certain and laudable.
Cardinal Lercaro touched upon
this question, but did not offer
concrete suggestions, beyond in
dicating that such participation
would be realized normally in
Sunday and feastday Vespers.
These would then have to be of
such a nature, in structure and
texts, that the entire congregation
and not only a few of the more
educated could take part. All
events, we can be sure that this
aspect of the problem too is be
ing given serious study by the
Committee on Reform.
Services For
L. A. Brown
ATLANTA, Ga.—Funeral serv
ices for Mr. Lucius Adams Brown
were held October 30th at Im
maculate Conception Church,
Rev. Harold J. Rainey officiating.
Survivors are his wife, Mrs.
Lucius Adams Brown, Master
Michael Brown, Mr. and Mrs.
William King, Mr. and Mrs. J.
O. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. R. M.
Knight, Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Pal
mer of Bethel, Conn.; Mr. and
Mrs. T. H. Brown, San Diego,
Calif.; Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Brown,
of Decatur; Mr. and Mrs. E.
E.E. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. J. F.
Brown, Adamsville, Ga.; two
grandchildren, several nieces and
nephews.
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AT LUNCHEON—Frank J. Sheed, noted author and lecturer
is pictured with the Most Rev. Francis E. Hyland, Bishop of At
lanta, at the luncheon session of the Catholic Laymen’s Association.
Mr. Sheed was speaker at the Sunday afternoon session,—.(Ledger
Photo).
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