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Views from the Choir Loft

The Little Office of the Immaculate Conception

Veronica Brandt · July 22, 2022

I came across the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception while researching Chasing the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They have a lot in common. They’re both medieval developments – BVM being the older. They both serve as shorter, more manageable versions of the Divine Office. They both follow the Canonical Hours, though the Immaculate Conception misses Lauds, but that’s kinda part of Matins anyway.

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is much like the Office for Saturdays of Our Lady from the Divine Office. It is not very much shorter, but it is simpler in that it changes much less from day to day.

However, the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception is drastically shorter. There are no Psalms. Each hour has a hymn, which may have made up one long hymn as they all share a similar meter. Being so simple, it seemed tantalisingly close to be able to sing this, but I couldn’t find a hymn meter to fit.

Turns out, the wonderful Brebeuf Hymnal contains 5 tunes for this hymn! They are all good settings, but none of them is a chant tune. Then I found two recordings of a sung Little Office of the Immaculate Conception on the internet with strikingly similar tunes. So I transcribed them. I go into more meandering details on my own blog, but you can get the highlights in this video:

So, now I had all the pieces. I settled on one tune and spent half an hour singing through the seven hours with my son. We were both pleasantly surprised by how quick the whole thing was. The collect is really the most tricky part, being a rather long prayer compared to other collects.

Many people approach the Divine Office with no idea of what to expect. They can be overwhelmed by the time it takes and the complexity of finding the right part for the day. In this age of mobile devices, we often turn to computer aided navigation, but these open up more possibilities for distraction. Maybe even in our modern world, there is a place for devotions like the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception which can be printed as a 12 page booklet.

Of course, the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Angelus are all even simpler and accessible. And there are of saints who could spend a whole night in meditation on a single phrase of the Our Father. It is good to keep these in mind too. But if you are interested in discovering the Divine Office, this Little Office could be a gentle introduction.

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Matins: Chant Little Office of the Immaculate Conception
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Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: July 22, 2022

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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

    Schola Director Posts ‘Live’ Recording
    As I explained in my article posted earlier today, Nun Komm Der Heiden Heiland is actually a Catholic tune (in spite of what some have claimed). The volunteer choir I direct sang that beautiful ADVENT melody last Sunday, and I invite you to listen to the live recording. It will get better the more we sing it.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Message from the Vice-President!
    The Vice-President of the Church Music Association of America, Dr. Horst Buchholz (who also serves as Director of Sacred Music for the Archdiocese of Detroit) sent us an email yesterday regarding the harmonizations (PDF) I composed for the Gregorian Chant psalm tones. Dr. Buchholz says: “Those settings are absolutely exquisite, as I'm used to when it comes from you. Bravo! Well done! Now, as a sequel, if you could write something for accompanying psalms in English that would be awesome.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Requesting Our Advent Eucharistic Hymn
    A young lady named Agnes wrote to us: “Dear Mr. Ostrowski, do you have the PDF score for Ave Corpus Domini set to the ADVENT melody? Last year, we sang the hymn tune “Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland” quite a bit using your contrafactum technique. My choir appreciates the Latin hymns and practice videos, especially in the ADVENT and CHRISTMAS seasons. Your recent article on Gregorian Psalm Tones is a great help to my organist brother, and reminds us of attending VESPERS years ago when we lived in California. Thank you so much for all the effort put into providing these wonderful resources!”   Agnes, if you are listening! Yes, the PDF file you desire can be downloaded for free at the Brébeuf Portal via this URL link. Thanks for writing to us!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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“In accordance with the ancient tradition of the Church, institution to the ministries of reader and acolyte is reserved to men.”

— Pope Saint Paul VI (15 August 1972)

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