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Views from the Choir Loft

Singing the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Veronica Brandt · May 30, 2020

The Little Office of Blessed Virgin Mary is a devotion which imitates the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. It was made to be simpler and more accessible for the average Catholic. It is used by religious and layfolk alike and was one of the requirements for the Sabbatine Privilege. It was a popular book even before the printing press and people would memorize much of it to pray throughout the day.

There are a few different versions floating around. Keeping with the idea of simplicity, most only have the words. About a decade ago, Baronius Press brought out this beautiful edition with music. Being such a small volume, only the essential music was included. The psalms have no music explicitly given beyond the Euouae and they are not pointed. They don’t have accent marks or marks for the flex (dagger) and metrum (asterisk) either. In Latin the psalms have very exact tunes. If you were very familiar with singing the psalms, then you would be able to sing them from the Baronius Press books, but they don’t have enough information for the uninitiated to work it out for themselves.

Three Baronius Press books and another older one.

I ordered copies for everyone in my family and we began to sing from them. We began with the English and then added in Latin as we worked it out piece by piece. I made my own booklets to make singing the psalms easier. Pretty soon we had Compline memorised and soon learned Prime as well.

I have made a few recordings over the years and these are far and away my most popular videos on my youtube channel. Even today, someone I had never met before recognised me from Youtube and said I should make more videos of the Little Office.

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How to Sing Little Office of the BVM in Advent (Office 2)
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How to Sing Terce from the Little Office from online tools!
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Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Compline
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Prime from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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Memento Rerum Conditor
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Te Deum: Sing a NYE Thanksgiving!
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Alma Redemptoris Mater – Hymn of the Week, New Book of Old Hymns
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O Gloriosa Virginum – Lauds Hymn from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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New Course: Singing the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Latin!
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Christmas Prime Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Latin
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Ave Regina Caelorum – Gregorian Chant – simple then solemn
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Vespers from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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Rubrics for Little Office Annunciation (March 25)
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Compline from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary from 2013
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Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Matins and Lauds – Paschaltide
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I am endeavouring to gather together all the materials I have on the Little Office and bring some order to my so far disjointed efforts. You can check my progress at littleoffice.brandt.id.au. I have been meaning to wait until it was more complete before promoting the project here, but maybe sharing it will help spur me on to get more recordings and booklets finished.

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

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Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary Last Updated: November 21, 2020

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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).

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Quick Thoughts

Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“In particular, today we must remember that our liturgy—celebrated according to the books promulgated by Saints Paul VI and John Paul II—must be preserved from any element from the ancient forms.”

— Bishops of Costa Rica —Hat tip to ‘Catholic Arena’

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