I got my St. Dunstans Psalter about a month ago and it has very much enriched my devotional life, and has been an amazing tool to sing the office. Thanks for the video.
Very interesting and instructive video, thank you. As a 1662 Prayer Book convert to Catholicism (I’m English) 34 years ago who has been in charge of the (very traditional) ceremonies in one of the largest Catholic Churches in London (UK) I have come to appreciate and greatly love the Old Rite of Vespers which we do here every Sunday and eve of a Holy Day of Obligation which is naturally, entirely in Latin. I never forgot my love of the ceremonies of the Prayer Book I grew up with at prep school etc., and at home, but I simply cannot get used to English being sung liturgically, whenever I hear it, after participating for over 30 years in Old Rite Vespers. Liturgically sung English sounds very odd. Isn’t it strange, since I grew up with it? Listening to you singing it (so well) was a great shock, however.
Absolutely- I have been part of a very traditional diocesan parish and have helped run Sunday vespers in the old rite and, in its own beautiful way, it is an objectively good and deeply formative liturgy. There is something transformative in the living out of a good life as a faithful parish which so enlivens and reinvigorates the “dry bones” so many of us have living in such a confused and secular age. I’m so glad you found the video helpful and hope to do more similar soon!
Dear friend, I don't know if I'm ready to sing the office but I certainly like these videos. I'm a cradle Roman Catholic and I really love the Commonwealth Edition of Divine Worship daily office as my own personal breviary. I was wondering if you could help me out with two simple questions Where in the book is the haec dies? If I'm not mistaken it was ordered to be prayed during Easter Sunday. I was wondering is there a dedicated spot for that inside the book or do you simply find the Psalms yourself and pray it that way? One final question, if you wouldn't mind, when it says year one readings and year two readings, if I understand correctly an even year (such as 2024) would be the year two readings is that correct? Any help with this would be fantastic. God bless
Wonderful questions! I’m glad to be a small part of your appreciation of these beautiful rites and liturgical traditions! Regarding the Haec Dies, the commonwealth Edition actually has a supplementary text to make this more convenient for praying through Holy Week and eastertide(www.ordinariate.org.uk/cmsAdmin/uploads/dwdo(ce)-holy-week-&-easter-supplement-approved.pdf) page 96 of this supplement has the instruction you’re looking for. In the breviary itself, on p 230 it simply calls for the Easter Anthems to replace the Venite (see pp 90-92), and that the versicle and response are to be replaced by the haec dies, and they repeat them there. As seems to be the case with just about every breviary I’ve used, Easter requires a well-chosen ribbon or holy card to keep the page marked for convenience! For your second question, the rule for determining which year we’re on is tied to the date a given liturgical year begins- that is, whether Advent falls on an even or odd year. So, if Advent for the church year we’re currently in fell in an even year, it would be year 1. In this case, since Advent was in 2023 for our current liturgical year, we’re actually on year 2 (luckily this really only affects the Sunday office lections!) please let me know if I’ve only muddied things further, but I hope this helps set you on the right direction!
Hi, sorry for this silly question but it seems like the Anglican plainchant tones sound like Gregorian chant, how accurate is this? When you sung psalm 89, the chanting style reminded me of an old rite parish near me that does vespers. Are they based off/very similar to each other?
Fantastic question! The plainchant as used in the Saint Dunstan's Plainsong Psalter is, basically, the ancient chant tones applied to Sacral English. That's an overly simple answer to a fun, unsurprisingly-contested history. I'd love to share a video about this tradition, actually if you'd enjoy that background, comparing the two, etc?
@@emberingsbe sure, I’d be interested personally. I was wondering if I could use the Gregorian tones on the daily office but it seems like that’s not bad at all. Does that Saint Dustin psalter also use Anglican tones that differ from the standard Gregorian tones?
@@tusolusdominushi i believe the Anglican/Ordinariate rite uses the Sarum rite tones for Psalm singing. When you sing in Latin the Psalm tones are meant to illuminate the Latin text, but English has different inflections, so to sing the Psalms in English we have slightly different tones and it "flows" better. If you search Gregorian chant Psalm tones you'll find tones 1 through 8 each with various ending inflections. English or Sarum rite Psalm tones differ mostly in those ending inflections. That's my little understanding and im not confident 😅
Some more context to add to what others said, Anglican chant is basically plainchant expanded to a 4-part harmony. It was developed in the 17th and 18th centuries alongside the development of 4-part choral singing. The specific tones differ from plainchant, and there is a greater variety of tones and harmonizations, but if you take an Anglican chant and just sing the soprano part, it essentially becomes, at least in style, a plainchant.
O Joyful Light isn't just a hymn. The lamplighting psalms are first sung, explaining the woe and fall of man. Then, at the last 10 verses, poetry of christ inbreaking into the world are inserted, back and forth. By then, all the lamps are lit, the poetry of God's salvation is finished, and THEN the O Jpyful light is sung. It's epic.
I absolutely love the context as you’ve painted it. This is the sort of living, ancient liturgical sensibility that I think is so refreshing and grounding for a world at war with itself. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome question, sorry for the confusion! I’m a member of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, which preserves much of the textual and spiritual life cultivated in the Anglican tradition but brought back into full communion with the Catholic Church. So the two editions I refer to are the Commonwealth and North American editions of the Daily Office books approved for the three Ordinariates’ (which are broadly North America, the United Kingdom, and the pacific region surrounding Australia) use. I know folks who were part of the 2019 BCP project and they are all people of deep faith and good will, so I count it a worthy project as far as it goes, but I joined the Catholic Church before it was completed and have never lived through its use, which I think is the only true test of a Prayer Book revision in the Anglican sense.
