New Vesperale to come out soon?

Posted on 16 January 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I picked this up on the site of MusicaSacra Forum.

Gregorian Chant: General: Vesperale for Sundays and Feasts to be expected next week

A Vesperale is the book used for the singing of Vespers in Latin.

Furthermore, the Abbot of Solesmes (the abbey where these books are produced) recently had an audience with Pope Benedict.

So… it has only been decades in prep, right?

I am pretty sure that this project had been blocked in the Congregation for a long time because there was a bias against communal singing of the office in Latin.  Now that there is a different regime in place, the project could move forward.

It will be interesting to compare what comes out to a Vesperale prepared in Rome some years ago by a private group.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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9 Comments

  1. TNCath says:
    16 January 2010 at 11:25 AM

    Why was there a bias against communal singing of the office in Latin? Isn’t the Liturgy of the Hours the official prayer of the Church?

  2. catholicmidwest says:
    16 January 2010 at 11:26 AM

    We not only don’t have it in latin, we don’t have it. Here if you were to suggest praying (let alone singing) vespers, most people wouldn’t have the vaguest idea what you were talking about.

    You’d probably get accused of something. :)

  3. Anita Moore OPL says:
    16 January 2010 at 11:57 AM

    While they’re at it, is there any chance of a decent English translation of the Liturgy of the Hours anytime in the foreseeable future?

    By the way, at one of our local parishes, a few of us get together with the priest to close out weekly adoration by saying Vespers and Compline, followed by the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. We (usually) chant the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis — and we do the Nunc Dimittis and its antiphon in Latin. (I don’t know if it’s technically correct to say Compline shortly after Vespers, but I hope God is pleased all the same.)

  4. Jono says:
    16 January 2010 at 12:55 PM

    @Anita, even if it may not be “liturgically correct” to say or sing Compline right after Vespers, I can’t imagine that God would be particularly upset to hear the prayers of his people adoring him.

    The Grail psalms have been improved by a more literal translation, though i don’t know if that will be published until a new ICEL translation for the rest of the Liturgy of the Hours is made. I don’t know if they plan to retranslate the Liturgy of the Hours first, or if they find it more important to retranslate the Roman Ritual (which I expect). I would at least expect the retranslation of the rites of the other six sacraments to occur first. The blessings or LOTH would probably then follow (then again, I don’t know the priorities of ICEL).

  5. Fr. Augustine Thompson O.P. says:
    16 January 2010 at 4:13 PM

    Dear Anita,

    I am pleased that the Benedictines of Solesmes have finally finished this project.

    For those who prefer the Dominican Chant for the Liturgy of the Hours, Vespers for the entire liturgical year (including ferials) is available for download (FREE) here: http://dominican-liturgy.blogspot.com/
    Just click the links on the left sidebar and the PDF will download. Be warned, however, they are large.

    I am also pleased to announce that the antiphonal for Advent-Christmas (vol. 1 of the LH) for all hours of the Liturgia Horarum, using the Dominican chants, is now also available at the same site. The companion volumes for Lent, Easter, and Ordinary time will follow this year, as the cloistered nuns of Marbury AL sing each volume through to check for errors.

  6. Anthony OPL says:
    16 January 2010 at 6:59 PM

    I thought the combination of vespers and compline was called “evensong”?

    =P

  7. Anita Moore OPL says:
    16 January 2010 at 9:47 PM

    Fr. Augustine, thank you for the info!

  8. Mark M says:
    17 January 2010 at 9:46 AM

    Interesting news, Father! I had long conceived of a plan to retypeset the Vesperale Romanum (you know, Meinrad style, so it’s digital too), as a precursor to redoing the Liber and then Antiphonale… but it seems I may have been beaten to it.

    Interested also by what you say about the privately produced one. Do you have any further details?

  9. robtbrown says:
    17 January 2010 at 10:13 AM

    Why was there a bias against communal singing of the office in Latin? Isn’t the Liturgy of the Hours the official prayer of the Church?
    Comment by TNCath

    Because Latin is a sign that the Church is catholic.

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