In connection with this prayer an interesting question is discussed in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record (No. 540. December, 1912). Is this prayer merely a sacramental? Has it an indulgence attached to it at all? The querist quotes The new Raccolta, in answering the second part of his query but wishes to know if it be an indulgence how it produces its effects. "For either the defects committed in reading the Divine Office are voluntary or involuntary. If voluntary they are sins and consequently cannot be touched by an indulgence; if involuntary they are not sinful and therefore stand in no need of an indulgence." In a very long reply Dr. John M. Harty sums up, "For our part we adhere to the view which says that the efficacy of the privilege annexed by Leo X. and Pius X. to the Sacro-sanctae is derived from an indulgence. At the same time we think that these prayers are also sacramentals, since they are official prayers of the Church. Under this aspect, they obtain the ordinary benefits which are attached to sacramentals, and, accordingly lead to a remission of sin and temporal punishment by means of sorrow and satisfaction, which are elicited under the influence of the abundant graces given by God, through the intercession of the Church. They also placate God, so as to render Him willing to grant His favours even though defects exist in the recitation of the Office…. Though these defects are not produced ex opere operato, they nevertheless are real, and are an encouragement to priests, whose human frailty prevents the perfect performance even of the most sacred functions of their priestly office."
PART III
THE CANONICAL HOURS.
CHAPTER I.
MATINS.
Etymology. The word Matins is derived from Matuta, the Latin name for the Greek goddess of morning. The word used in the Roman Breviary is matutinum (i.e., tempus). It is the old name for Lauds, Laudes matutinae. The word was also used to denote the office of Vigils. Hence, the word was used in three senses, to denote the nocturns and lauds, to denote Lauds only and to denote the vigil office. In liturgical study the word was confusing, and sometimes it is the context only which gives the author's meaning. This, the principal Hour of the Church's public prayer, was, in the early days of Christianity, said at night, and was called Nocturnum and Vigiliae.
Origin. The night office of vigils dates from the very earliest days of Christianity. It derived its name from the vigils or night watches of the soldiers, who divided the night, from six o'clock in the evening to six o'clock in the morning, into four watches of three hours each. The nightly meetings of the Christians came to be called by the name vigils, but the meetings were not begun at the stated hours of military vigil and did not finish with them. Why these meetings of Christians were held at night, and in what their religious exercises consisted in, both in matter and form, is an unsolved problem. But it is certain that they resembled the services of the Jewish synagogue in the readings from Scripture, psalm-singing and prayers, and differed from those services by having readings from the Gospels, the Epistles, and from non-canonical books, such as the Epistle of St. Clement. The Eucharistic service always formed part of them. Indeed, the very name, Synagogue was given to these assemblies of Christians, as we see from the Pastor of Hermes. In their common prayer, they faced towards the East, as the Jews did towards Jerusalem. They had precentors and janitors as in the Jewish rites. Their services consisted of the readings from the Mosaic law, from Gospels and Epistles, exposition of Scripture, a set sermon, long and fervent "blessings" or thanksgiving and psalms. Before there were any written gospels to read, we gather that the reading of the Old Law, of the Prophets and the Psalms, was followed by a set sermon on the life and death of Christ (Bickel, Messe und Pascha, p, 91). From St. Basil (fourth century) it is concluded that two choirs sang the Psalms. Cassian writes that the monks of the fifth century celebrated the Night Office with twelve psalms and readings from the Old and the New Testaments. Hence, "we find the same elements repeated, the psalms generally chanted in the form of responses, that is to say, by one or more cantors, the choir repeating one verse which served as a response, alternately with the verses of the psalms, which were sung by the cantors, readings taken from the Old and the New Testaments and, later on, from the works of the Fathers and Doctors; litanies, supplications, prayers for divers members of the Church, clergy, faithful, neophytes and catechumens; for emperors, travellers; the sick; and generally for all the necessities of the Church, and even for Jews and for heretics. It is quite easy to find these essentials in our modern Matins" (Dom Cabrol, Cath. Encyclopedia, art. "Matins").
Matins on account of its length and position in the Breviary is the most important part of the daily Office. And, on account of the variety and beauty of its elements, is considered the most remarkable.
The prayer Pater Noster begins the Office. It is the Lord's prayer, divina institutions formata, when Christ told His Apostles "Sic vos orabitis" (St. Matt. vi. 9). It is the most excellent of all prayers, being most excellent in its author, its form, its depth of meaning, its effects. The prayer consists of a preface, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And in the body of the prayer are seven petitions—three for the honour and glory of God, in and by ourselves, and four for our own wants, spiritual and temporal. Very excellent matter on the greatest of prayers is to be found in the Catechism of the Council of Trent (translation, Duffy, Dublin) and in A Lapide (St. Matt. vi.). Writers on liturgy say that the recitation of the Pater Noster as the opening prayer of Matins was not obligatory until the beginning of the twelfth century. It is said that the monks were wont to say a Pater Noster at each altar in the church before entering their stalls for Office recitation. This practice delayed the beginning of the Office in choir, and a rule was made that those who wished to say this prayer must say it in their stalls, in a low tone. Of course, in the Breviary of Pius V. (1568) this practice became obligatory on each person bound to read the Hours.
Ave Maria. This is a leading prayer amongst the great prayers of the Mass and the Office. It, too, is excellent in its authors, its form (clear, short devotional), in motive (in honouring Mary, Mother of God, and in begging her intercession). It is divided into three parts, the words of the angel, of St. Elizabeth and of the Church, Devout thoughts on this prayer have been penned by countless clients of Mary in every age. Priests are familiar with many such writings, great and small, but A Lapide (St. Luke I.) bears reading and re-reading. The prayer, as it stands in the Breviary to-day, is not of very ancient date. "In point of fact there is little or no trace of the Hail Mary as an accepted devotional formula before 1050…. To understand the developments of the devotion, it is important to grasp the fact that the Ave Maria was merely a form of greeting. It was, therefore, long customary to accompany the words with some external gesture of homage, a genuflexion, or at least an inclination of the head…. In the time of St. Louis the Ave Maria ended with the words benedictus fructus ventris tui: it has since been extended by the introduction both of the Holy Name and of a clause of petition…. We meet the Ave as we know it now, printed in the Breviary of the Camaldolese monks and in that of the Order de Mercede C. 1514. … The official recognition of the Ave Maria in its complete form, though foreshadowed in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, was finally given in the Roman Breviary of 1568" (Father Thurston, S.J., Cath. Encyclopedia, art. "Hail Mary.")