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Tonight, pray Compline for the Holy Souls

Veronica Brandt · November 2, 2013

ANY YEARS AGO we bought booklets from our local FSSP for Compline. Tonight I found they had been superceded by these, but the old ones are still available here. One oddity about the old ones is that the psalms for All Souls’ Day are only given in Latin. No English translation as in the rest of the booklet. So each year, just after we muddle through, I renew my resolution to type up a supplement.

This time, thanks to the magic of time-zones, I can type up the supplement after we’ve said Compline, ready for the beginning of All Souls’ Day over the other side of the world.

* * Psalms for Compline on All Souls’ Day according to the 1962 books, in Latin from the Clementine Vulgate and English from the Douay Rheims Challoner translation.

Also of note, Steven van Roode has compiled a new Compline book according to the current Liturgy of the Hours. And it’s all in Latin (there is a Latin/Dutch or Flemish version available). Though the rest of the hours use a 4 week cycle, Compline is kept simple with the same psalms each week, making it a great one to get started with.

Even the Episcopalians are doing it.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

“Tonus Solemnior” • How old is it?

In the 1962 Missal, a section called “præfationes in tono solemniore” contains ornate melodies for the Preface. An article posted on the blog of the Church Music Association of America claims the tone comes from “the late 19th century” and said its elimination “is one of the very few good things which the post-Conciliar reform did for Gregorian chant.” The author said: “The Roman solemn preface tone is already beautiful enough, there was no need to give a more Romantic feel.”

Some have asked us whether the tonus solemnior comes from “the late 19th century.” It does not. Their author was wrong by at least 400 years. I have seen this tone in MSS from the 1400s—and it may go back even further. Here is an example from 1494AD. And here’s another from the 1400s. The FSSP priests use these tones on high feasts, and the effect is unforgettable.

—Jeff Ostrowski

6 January 2022 • Quick!

A short version of the INTROIT for the feast of the Epiphany has been added to the Saint René Goupil Gregorian Chant Website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Confusing Feasts of Christmas

Whether one considers the Missale Vetustum or the post-conciliar calendar—or even the 1908 calendar—the feasts which follow Christmas are very confusing. Last year I created this comparison chart. I hope you find it helpful. As far as I can tell, my chart is the first effort to carefully detail the changes made to post-Christmas feasts (unless we also count the rather basic one by Lauren Pristas).

—Jeff Ostrowski