Case IX: What Office Must a Subdeacon Say on the Day of his Ordination?

Several young men are ordained subdeacons between eight and nine o’clock in the morning, on the feast of St. Mark, the evangelist. They are not certain as to how much of the office they are obliged to say on that day. Some recited all the little hours that morning, before their ordination to the subdeaconate, as they did not know how else to employ their time. Others said Prime, Tierce and Sext, before receiving subdeaconate, while others thought themselves obliged to say the whole office for that day, from Matins on. Were those, who recited all four little hours before their ordination to the subdeaconate, obliged to repeat any or all of them afterward, and, if obliged to repeat, where must they begin? Is there any reason for believing that the whole office for the day is obligatory on subdeacons, on the day that they receive subdeaconship? Incidentally, how would you interpret the penance, nocturnum talis diet, imposed on subdeacons?

Answer.—The divine office is obligatory on subdeacons from the moment they receive the subdeaconate. Only that part of it, however, is obligatory for them on the day of their subdeaconate, which corresponds to the canonical hour at which they were ordained. Hence a subdeacon is bound to recite, on the day of his ordination to the subdeaconate, that part of the office which is recited in choir by those who are obliged to say the office in choir. La Croix thinks that if a subdeacon received his subdeaconate at eleven A. M. he would be bound to say only the vespers and compline of that day, as the little hours will already have been recited in choir by that time. St. Alphonsus, however, differs with La Croix on this point, maintaining that the subdeacon is bound to recite that part of the office which corresponds to the canonical hour of Sext; therefore, from Sext on. And this seems to be the better opinion, and the one generally followed. In the case of the young men ordained on St. Mark’s feast, their obligation began before nine o’clock A.M., therefore they are obliged to recite Tierce, as that is the part of the Breviary that corresponds to the hour of nine o’clock in the morning. Originally the office was recited as follows: Matins were said immediately after midnight; Lauds were said at the dawn; Prime after sunrise; Tierce at nine o’clock in the morning; Sext at noon; None at three o’clock in the afternoon; Vespers at sunset, and Compline at dusk. If the subdeaconate were not conferred until ten A.M. the office would be obligatory from Sext on. As regards the question as to whether the young men who recited all four little hours before receiving the subdeaconate, there exists a difference of opinion among theologians. Some theologians, as Tournely, Bonacina, La Croix, etc., maintain that the young men did not satisfy their obligation by reciting the little hours before ordination, because an obligation can not be satisfied before it is contracted. Now, these young men, at the time when they recited the little hours, were under no obligation to recite them. Afterward, from nine o’clock A. M. on, they are under an obligation to recite that part of the office that corresponds to that canonical hour of the day, namely, Tierce, which obligation has not yet been satisfied. To this, Lugo, Tamburini, etc., make reply, that a debt may be paid by anticipation, when it is morally certain that it is going to be contracted. Both these opinions are probable, in the estimation of St. Liguori (lib. 5, c. 2, v. 140).

Again it is urged that the subdeacon is obliged to recite the office ia the name of the Church, but a young man, before his deaconship, can not recite the office in the name of the Church, and, therefore, by such recitation, he does not satisfy the obligation that is laid upon him later in the day.

But to this it may be replied, says St. Liguori, that an excommunicated priest does not and can not pray in the name of the Church, and yet he is bound to say his office, and, by saying his office, he satisfies his obligation in this regard. Therefore, to satisfy the obligation of reciting the office, it is not necessary that it be recited in the name of the Church. And this opinion the holy doctor calls probable. These young men, therefore, who recited the little hours in the morning before their ordination to the subdeaconate, can not, strictly speaking, be required to repeat any one of them, although they received subdeaconship about nine A. M. However, in practise, it is more adviseable to have them say, after their ordination, the hours of the Breviary that correspond to the hour of their ordination. Such a practise removes all scruples on this score, and quiets the conscience at a time when young men are apt to be worried by many false fears.

There is no ground whatever for thinking that a newly ordained subdeacon is bound to recite the whole office of the day on which he receives subdeaconship. There may be subdeacons who, through overanxiety, reason themselves into such an obligation; but, as a matter of fact, the obligation does not exist, neither in law nor in fact. The reason is indicated above.

The words, nocturnum talis diet, indicating the penance imposed on the newly ordained subdeacon by the ordaining prelate, in gratitude for the order received, mean either the nocturn of the ferial office, or the first nocturn of the feast, or the first nocturn of the dominical office, accordingly as the ordination takes place, either on a feria, a feast day, or a Sunday. The Congregation of Rites August 11, 1860, answered: “Understand the words of the Roman Pontifical, the nocturn of such a day, as referring to the single ferial nocturn, or to the first nocturn of Sunday, as in the Psalter, that is, twelve Psalms with their antiphons from the season; the ordaining Bishop can designate either that of the very day on which he holds the ordination, or that of another day, at his discretion. But when the Bishop expresses nothing other than what the words of the Pontifical state, it must be said to mean the nocturn of the feria which corresponds to the day on which the ordination took place.” That is to say, it is the ordaining prelate’s privilege to determine the nocturn which the newly ordained subdeacon is to say as a penance. But if the bishop simply repeats the words of the pontifical, nocturnum talis diei, he is to be understood as meaning the nocturn of the ferial office corresponding to the day of the ordination. For instance, if the ordination took place on a Thursday, on which the feast of an Apostle was celebrated,the nocturn would be the nocturn of the ferial office feriae quintae. This nocturn does not include the Pater, Ave, or Credo; nor does it include the invitatorium and hymn, or the lessons. It includes only the twelve psalms, with their proper antiphons. In the case submitted, the nocturn would be the first nocturn of the Dominical office for the second Sunday after Easter, as the feast of St. Mark fell on that Sunday this year.