Liturgy experts: Question on method of praying the Psalms in the Divine Office

[peregrinator_it]

I have been wondering about this for some time and am posting it here since there are seem to be quite a few posters knowledgeable on liturgical matters on this board (mods please feel free to move in this isn’t the right forum. )

I’m curious as to where the “call & response” or “antiphonal” (sorry, don’t know the correct term, if there is one) method of prayer which is and has been used in the Divine Office came from. Or how it was developed.

And I’m curious whether the Church (or any Church fathers) have ever given any reason for why the Office is prayed this way. Is there any writing/theory on this method of prayer? Also, any writings on why the Office is chanted? (Although I can think of some obvious answers to this one.)

The “antiphonal” style of praying is something I’m very attached to, and so it seems very valuable to me, personally, but I’d like to know some background on it.

 

[Joannm]

Robert Taft (a Jesuit) and Paul Bradshaw (An Anglican but a noted liturgical historian and well respected in Catholic circles) have both written excellent books on the subject. I have them at work so I don’t recall the titles off hand.

 

[markadm]

Taft’s is:

The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: Second Revised Edition. Robert Taft, SJ: Liturgical Press. ISBN: 0-8146-1705-1

Is Bradshaw’s maybe:

Early Christian Worship. Paul F. Bradshaw. Liturgical Press, ISBN 0-8146-2429-4

Try this too!

 

[Joannm]

Taft’s is:

The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: Second Revised Edition. Robert Taft, SJ: Liturgical Press. ISBN: 0-8146-1705-1

Is Bradshaw’s maybe:

Early Christian Worship. Paul F. Bradshaw. Liturgical Press, ISBN 0-8146-2429-4

Try this too!

Yes, that is Taft’s Book. I actually met him a few weeks ago. Interesting fellow.

Bradshaw actually has two good books. “Two Ways of Praying” OSL Publications ISBN: 978-1-870-8009-59-3 and “Daily Prayer in the Early CHurch,” Oxford Univ. Press. I don’t have the ISBN. Not sure if this is still in print. I was taught by Bradshaw and he is a top notch scholar in this area.

Also J.A. Jungman “Christian Prayer Through the Centuries,” Paulist Press ISBN: 978-0-8091-4464-8

 

[peregrinator_it]

Many thanks to you both. I’ll have to look these up.

Do you happen to know who in the early Church either author references?

 

[bpbasilphx]

There are various stories about the introduction of antiphonal singing of the Psalms and other parts of the Divine Office.

1. St. Ambrose introduced it when the Orthodox Catholics were holding vigils in churches to keep them from being taken over by Arians. Antiphonal chanting of the Psalms kept people from getting tired.
2. One of the Desert Fathers (maybe St. Anthony) introduced it into his monastery after a vision of the holy angels in two choirs singing antiphonally in heaven.

 

[Joannm]

Clement of Alexandria (215) set times for prayer at the thrid, sisth and nith hours, as well as on the rising, before retiring and during the night. That is probably one of the earlies references to specific set times for prayer

 

[peregrinator_it]

Clement of Alexandria (215) set times for prayer at the thrid, sisth and nith hours, as well as on the rising, before retiring and during the night. That is probably one of the earlies references to specific set times for prayer

Thank you, but I’m more interested in the “call & response” style of prayer. I’m just curious to know if anything has been written about the value in/reason for praying this way…

 

[Faustina_Pio]

In the beginning of Christian Prayer ( a modern version of the liturgy of the hours) there is a good amount of info about why we pray this way. It actually says that there are numerous references in the Bible about the hours we pray. It quotes different verses where Jesus specifically mentioned different hours of the day when he was praying. The church took those hours and started the schedule that we have today.

What I know about singing the office is that in Psalms there is numerous reference to singing to God being the highest type of honor. This is why we sing in church. Singing is a great worship because it creates humility. If you have a bad singing voice but still sing to God, it shows you got over your vanity and pride and put it aside because you love the Lord that much.

Can you describe this call and response method a little better so I know what to research?

 

[Faustina_Pio]

I grabbed this off Wikipedia:

"In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. It corresponds to the call-and-response pattern in human communication and is found in many traditions.

An antiphon is a response, usually sung in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or some other part of a religious service, such as at Vespers or at a Mass. This meaning gave rise to the antiphony style of singing, see call and response"

In Ancient Greek antiphon means opposite and voice. So basically a verse of a psalm or song is sung and someone else makes a response, which is the antiphon.