ANTIPHONALE INVECTUM
The Antiphoner that you can take with you…
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Two seminarians praying from the All Saints Day 2011 Antiphonale Invectum in Madrid. Photo by Peter Heasley. |
This project aims to compile a modern Antiphonale Romanum — according to the 1983 Ordo Cantus Officii — as I and my friends would pray it.
Why is this important? Because the praise the Lord is eminently important. If the prayers raised to God in the Liturgy of the Hours are holy, then the praying should be worthy; morevoer, the chant of the Church, which is "Specially suited to Roman liturgy" (Sacrosanctum Concilium 116) and holds a prime place in the "treasure of inestimable value" (SC 112) that is sacred music, is the vehicle par excellence by which the Church lifts its praises to the Almighty. Also, quoting Pope Benedict XVI's Verbum Domini: "We would do well to make the most of those songs handed down to us by the Church’s tradition which respect this criterion [of scriptural basis]. I think in particular of the importance of Gregorian chant."
Little by little, bit by bit, I hope to assemble this book and use it for my prayer of the Divine Office.
Right now, though, since the Communauté Saint-Martin has republished the Heures Grégoriennes, I'm mostly just using that...
Current Projects:
- The PNAC Travel Weekend Antiphoner
- Diaconate 2011 (and for Kindle)
- All Saints 2011 (and for Kindle)
- Christ the King 2011 (and for Kindle)
- Octave of Christmas 2011 (and for Kindle)
- Ad Horas Medias: the pocket-sized midday prayer antiphoner
- Progress: as of Nov. 9, the Psalter is finished and work is beginning on Advent and Lent.
Long-term Projects:
- Liber Hebdomadarum Maiorum: just for Holy Week and Easter Week
- the whole thing…
My Sources:
Based on Ordo Cantus Officii, I draw the antiphons from:
- Books currently available from the great Abbey of Solesmes:
- Antiphonale Monasticum (1934)
- Antiphonale Monasticum I, II, II (2005, 2006, 2007)
- Psalterium Monasticum (1982)
- Graduale Romanum (1974)
- Liber Hymnarius (1983)
- Antiphonale Romanum II (2009)
- Books that are a little harder to find:
- Antiphonale Sacrosanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ (1912)
- Liber Responsorialis (Solesmes, 1895, reprinted by Nova et Vetera)
- Officium Hebdomadæ Sanctæ et Octavæ Paschæ (Desclée Nº 914)
- Others…
Methodology
As already mentioned, I use Ordo Cantus Officii to find the antiphons for the particular Psalms and canticles of a particular office. Having found them in the sources above, I typeset the antiphon using Gregorio and lay out the office with the text of the Liturgia Horarum in InDesign. Hymns and responsories are also typeset and laid out. Because this is primarily not a work of research but a work of practicality, I take the antiphon and other musical elements from the latest edition, being in conformance as much as posible with the principles of the current Antiphonale Romanum II (2009). For example, if an antiphon is found in Psalterium Monasticum (1982) and Antiphonale Monasticum II (2006), I will choose the version from the Antiphonale Monasticum as that is more in line with the redaction found in the Antiphonale Romanum II.
Why doesn’t this already exist?
Short answer: I don’t know. Aside from Antiphonale Romanum II (2009) — which is no mere suggestion but the very thing itself — several attempts have been made, among the most recent and successful being Stephen van Roode’s Liturgia Horarum in Cantu. My project differs from others in attempting to provide a chantable office not just for Sundays, sollemnities, and feasts at major hours, but for all days and all hours, just as I pray the Office.
How you can help:
- Make a donation!
- Find a copy of In Agendis Mortuorum (Desclée Nº 749)
Who else is working on the project:
- A number of my seminarian friends without whose help and support this project would not be possible.
- Thanks go especially to my parents for their material support.