Combining hymns
The rubric about replacing the Matins hymn with the Lauds hymn when the two hours are combined into one deserves some comment.
First, there is no explicit direction that if one combines these two hours, one can then omit the Lauds hymn. Now one could perhaps even reasonably assume that if there is a rubric allowing replacement of the first hymn with the second hymn, then the understanding is that one can omit the second.
But the rubrics do not at all make this clear.
The reason is that originally, the hymn for Lauds was found at the end of the hour, right before the Benedictus canticle. Thus when you combined Matins and Lauds, you ended up with a hymn towards the start and a hymn towards the finish. When the hymn for Lauds was moved to the beginning of the hour, there needn't have been any problem, but instead the rubric allowing using the Lauds hymn at the beginning was added, and the confusion resulted.
Better, it would seem, is to keep both hymns and keep them where they are.
QUESTION from Joseph on December 2, 2003
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on December 2, 2003
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Dear Joseph: You are correct; there is no explicit instruction on this issue. My comments are based on logical deduction derived from the text of the GILH and the actual practice of the Benedictine monks from whom I learned the Divine Office. In similar manner, however, the rubrics and instructions give no indication of which way is better. There is no justification in the instructions or in logic for this view of one way being better than another -- other than personal preference, which given the ambiguity of this particular point is reasonable to permit the preference.
God Bless, |