The breviary, the calendar and the order of Hours

Although the canonical Hours as said at different periods and in different churches have always been much the same in substance, yet in many details there has been considerable variety. Pope Pius V desired to introduce greater uniformity in the method of saying the divine office, and for this purpose he issued the Roman Breviary, and made its use obligatory on all who were bound to the office under pain of not satisfying their obligation. He abolished the use of other breviaries with the exception of such as dated back more than two hundred years. The divine office, therefore, must be recited according to the form of the Roman Breviary, and in Latin, the liturgical language of the Church.

Offices proper to particular countries, dioceses, and religious orders, are allowed to be inserted in the breviary and said only by the authority of the Apostolic See, and when a proper office has been thus granted it becomes obligatory on the grantees unless it was expressly conceded as permissive.

Pius V took away the obligation, which existed according to the rubrics of the breviary, of reciting the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, the penitential and gradual psalms, and the Office of the Dead; but though he took away the obligation, still he exhorted those bound to the divine office to recite them, and granted indulgences to such as followed his exhortation. The recitation of the Litany of the Saints on the feast of St Mark, and on the Rogation Days, forms part of the office.

The office to be said on any particular day is indicated in the calendar drawn up and approved by the proper authority. It is a matter of obligation under pain of venial sin to adhere to the calendar, even if it seem to be wrong, unless it is manifestly against the rubrics or decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. A reasonable cause, however, even though it be not a very grave one, will suffice to excuse the substitution of one office for another. If a wrong office has been said by mistake or inadvertence, there is no obligation to say the correct one; but if this is notably longer, some portion should be said to make up the difference.

The calendar to be followed is that of the church, diocese, or religious order to which one belongs. If absent from one’s place of domicile for a time, the general rule is that one’s own calendar should be followed; but in the case of regulars who recite the office in choir, a regular living for a time in another monastery should conform to the calendar of the place where he resides.

In each day’s office the order of the Hours should be observed at any rate under pain of venial sin. But here also any reasonable cause of some weight will excuse the saying of the Hours out of their proper order. If the time has arrived for anticipating Matins and Lauds for the next day, these may be said without any special reason even though the office of the day has not yet been finished, for each day’s office is independent of any other.

To n. 132.

Orders, Congregations, and Institutes enjoying their own Calendar from now on must celebrate only the local Offices of the Dedication and Titular of the cathedral church, and also the more solemn Feasts of the principal Patrons, so that they are no longer bound to Offices granted to some kingdom, province, or diocese; nor to local Offices which had an attached cessation from servile work, but now have it suppressed. Sacred Congregation of Rites, February 28, 1914.

1084. (A) The divine office ought to be recited as prescribed by the Church; for since it has been instituted and ordered by the authority of the Church, clerics ought in conscience to obey the ecclesiastical rules flourishing concerning this matter. But these things especially are to be noted: -

(a) In the Latin Church, the Roman breviary is to be used, except, however, in places and religious orders in which other breviaries approved by the Church from their first institution or introduced by custom had been in use for two hundred years before the promulgation of the Pian Constitution Quod a nobis (July 9, 1568). Thus the Milanese, Treves, Liege churches, etc., and also Benedictines and Dominicans legitimately retain their breviaries.¹

¹ In France there were indeed many very ancient breviaries, which could have been retained. But, since after the aforesaid Constitution they had been changed without the authority of the Holy See, they lost their privileges, and in their place the Roman Breviary with the diocesan Proper was substituted.

(b) Today there no longer flourishes an obligation of reciting the Little Office of Blessed Mary, the Office of the Dead (except on the day of the Commemoration of all the faithful departed), the Penitential Psalms and Gradual Psalms on the days on which they are assigned in the Breviary, unless where custom has remained, which nevertheless does not oblige outside choir. - But the Greater Litanies on the feast day of St. Mark and during the three days of Rogations ought to be recited, even outside choir.

1085. (B) Daily there ought to be recited the office assigned to each day in the calendar or directory, unless a legitimate reason excuses.

(a) One who lacks the office assigned to this day ought to recite another; for example, one who does not have the office of some saint ought to read the office from the common; say the same concerning parts of the office which are not at hand: for example, one who lacks proper lessons should read the common ones.

(b) Non-beneficed clerics, staying in another diocese, can recite the office of this place, but are not held to this unless they intend truly to acquire domicile there. - But beneficed clerics are held to the office of their own church, even when they stay elsewhere.¹

¹ S. C. Rit., Nov. 12, 1831, ad 46, n. 2682 new ed.

(c) The office ought to be recited as indicated in the diocesan calendar, unless it is morally certain that it errs.² - Likewise the proper offices of the diocese or Order ought to be read according to the order defined in the calendar; for although the concession of these privileges is a privilege granted to the community, individual members cannot reject it, but ought to conform themselves to the office of the community.

² S. C. Rit., June 1899, n. 4031 new ed.

1086. (C) As to changes, one must distinguish whether they are voluntary or not: -

(a) One who has involuntarily erred in the office is not held to recite another, because the Church does not wish to oblige one to read the breviary twice on the same day; then the axiom is legitimately applied: office for office. Nevertheless, if the office recited is notably shorter (for example, the office of a feria for the office of a Saint), according to some, it is necessary, and according to all, it is fitting, to supply something, for example, in the aforesaid case, by reciting the omitted lessons. - If the error is detected while the office has not yet been completed, according to some, the office begun can be completed; but more probably, according to St. Alphonsus (n. 161) and others, the remaining things ought to be read from the prescribed office, according to that saying: an error is corrected where it is detected.

One who has recited the same hour twice, for example, Terce, cannot omit another, for example, Sext, because the form of the office and the distinction of the hours has not been preserved.

One who by error has said one office for another will more suitably, on the day on which the office already recited occurs, recite it again, so that he may conform himself to the common rite of the Church;¹ yet probably he can read the omitted office, lest this be passed over in that year.²

¹ S. C. R., June 17, 1673, n. 1474 (formerly n. 2634).

² St. Alphons., n. 161; Ball. P., n. 383; Lehmk., n. 626; Noldin, n. 753.

1087. (b) But one who deliberately changes the office sins gravely if he recites another plainly diverse and much shorter, because he gravely disturbs the liturgical order; wherefore the following proposition 34 was deservedly condemned by Alexander VII: "On Palm Sunday one reciting the Easter office satisfies the precept."³ - The same must be said of one who frequently changes the office without reason.

³ Viva, Theses damnatae, on this proposition observes that there is a twofold reason why one acting thus sins gravely: because the office of Easter is wholly diverse from the office of Palms, which recalls the memory of the passion; and otherwise it is notably shorter; Denzinger, n. 1005.

One sins lightly who, without reasonable cause, changes the office into another almost equal; he does not sin in any way if this is done from any reasonable cause whatever. Now the following or similar reasons are held as sufficient: the reason of a journey, if someone uses the breviary of a companion; the reason of special devotion, if someone three or four times in a year recites some particular office; the reason of charity, for example, so that someone becoming blind may be helped in reciting the office; - but, from a recent decision, a cleric constituted in sacred orders "generally" does not satisfy his obligation "who, spontaneously or invited, joins himself to clergy singing or reciting an office diverse from the office of that cleric himself."⁴

⁴ S. C. Rit., Jan. 27, 1899, n. 4011 new ed.

2. On The External Conditions Required For The Recitation Of The Office.

Four things especially are to be considered: the order to be observed, the time at which the various hours are to be recited, the pronunciation of the words, the place and posture in which they ought to be recited.

1088. (A) The order to be observed among the hours. This indeed excludes two things: inversion of the prescribed order, and interruption in the same hour.

(a) In the recitation of the hours the prescribed order is to be observed, namely: Matins and Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. This precept does not oblige under grave obligation in private recitation, nor even in choir, according to the common opinion, because the inversion of this order is not judged a morally grave deformity. - Indeed, when a just cause is present, there is no sin, even venial. Now a reasonable cause is present: if someone, not having a breviary at hand, recites the hours before Matins, or reads the psalms, deferring the lessons to another time; or if someone comes late to choir when some hour has already been finished and laudably proceeds with companions to sing the office, later about to recite the omitted hour; or if someone privately is invited by another to say the hours, when he has not yet recited Matins.

1089. (b) When one hour has been begun, it ought regularly to be read whole to the end, nor can it licitly be interrupted without just cause; for reverence toward God and the Church requires this, since she has aptly disposed hymns, psalms, prayers, etc. to the intended end, namely the praise of God. Nevertheless, according to the common opinion, no interruption, however great, is mortal sin, provided the whole office is recited within the space of one day; for the individual parts of the office do not have a necessary connection with the others, but only an accidental one from the ordination of the Church. But it is a venial sin, unless a legitimate cause is present. - Now, among reasonable causes, these and similar ones are numbered: the utility of the neighbor, for example, a confession to be heard of someone who would not easily or willingly wait; obedience, in order to execute more quickly the command of a superior; charity and civility, in order to greet or kindly address someone; private utility, for example, to increase devotion, to note something useful on paper.

Whatever the interval may be, there is no obligation of repeating the part recited before the interruption; it suffices that only those things be resumed which are necessary for understanding the sense of the proposition.

Lauds can be divided from Matins, without cause, for a long time; for in antiquity Matins was said in the middle of the night, and Lauds as dawn was beginning. In which case, Matins is to be concluded as follows: namely, the prayer of the day is recited, and afterward these are said: Dominus vobiscum, Benedicamus, Fidelium, and Pater noster.¹ Yet it is necessary that, in resuming Lauds, Pater and Ave be said.

¹ S. C. Rit., Feb. 1, 1886, n. 3653 new ed.

In Matins itself, any nocturn can be separated from the others, without cause, for the space of three hours, because in antiquity they were accustomed to be thus separated; and even by a longer interval, if a just cause is present.

1090. (B) On the time at which the various hours are to be recited. The time once assigned for reciting the individual hours was this: Matins after midnight, Lauds at dawn, Prime after sunrise, Terce at the ninth hour, Sext at midday, None at the third afternoon hour, Vespers at sunset, Compline at the dusk of night.

(a) But today, for fulfilling the substance of the precept, it is enough to recite the entire office within the space of one natural day,² that is, from midnight of one day until midnight of the following day; wherefore those are immune from mortal sin who read the office integrally within that time. But once this time has elapsed, no one can any longer satisfy his obligation.

² In the recitation of the office each one at will can follow true time, or mean time, or legal time, or regional time (can. 33).

(b) Under venial obligation it is prescribed that Matins, Lauds, Prime, and Terce be recited before midday, unless a legitimate cause is present, as greater devotion, a time more suitable for studies, etc. - From the rubric of the Missal, Matins with Lauds ought to be recited before Mass; some formerly said that this is prescribed under grave precept, others under light; but probably this rubric does not oblige those who are not assigned to choir, since there is no necessary connection between Mass and Matins.

(c) Vespers and Compline are regularly recited from midday to midnight, nor can they be anticipated without cause. But during the time of Lent (except the first three days and Sundays), Vespers are to be said in choir before midday, in memory of the ancient discipline, according to which the fast was not broken before the recitation of Vespers; privately, however, they can be read at will before or after midday.

1091. (d) Matins with Lauds privately¹ can be anticipated from legitimate custom, that is, recited on the preceding day from that hour at which the sun holds the middle of its course between noon and sunset, according to the table inserted at the beginning of the Breviary. - Moreover Indults are easily granted so that recitation can begin at the second or first afternoon hour. - But whether it is licit for all, without a special privilege, to begin Matins at the second hour is disputed. Many deny, because from the concession of a special privilege it is deservedly inferred that no general license has been given. Yet not a few probably affirm; for, 1) this follows logically from the evolution of ecclesiastical discipline in this matter; in antiquity Matins was usually read during nighttime; afterward the custom prevailed that it was recited on the preceding evening after sunset, and soon at the middle time between noon and sunset; but in our times, gradually the custom prevailed that it can be said as soon as Vespers are usually recited in choir, i.e., at the second hour; 2) otherwise a custom of this sort is legitimate: for since, on account of the labors of pastoral office, a priest can daily be impeded from reciting Matins around the end of the day, it is indeed greatly expedient that it be licit to anticipate at the second hour, when he is not entangled in too many occupations: for such a manner of acting, which brings detriment to no one, is most profitable to piety. - Nor should it be said that the contrary follows from the practice of granting this privilege to certain clerics; for, where there is a diversity of opinions, the Holy See is accustomed to grant Indults to those petitioning, for the sake of greater security, without wishing to settle the controversy. In reality the Sacred Congregation of Rites, having been asked concerning this matter, responded: Let approved authors be consulted.² Wherefore, until the Holy See shall have established otherwise, we think a priest can use this probable opinion, especially when a reasonable cause is present, for example, the opportunity of anticipating Matins, which perhaps will not occur sooner, or the utility of better distributing the evening time.

¹ In choir, it cannot habitually be anticipated except with an indult of the Holy See; a bishop can permit that this be done for a time, from a just cause.

² S. C. Rit., July 13, 1883.

1092. (C) On the pronunciation of words. The pronunciation of the words which constitute the divine office ought to be vocal and integral: -

(a) Vocal, because it is prayer not purely mental, but public. Therefore it is not sufficient that it be run through by the mind alone or with the eyes, or recited only with the throat, but with lips and tongue, so that the sound is audible. Yet it is not required that in fact it be heard by others, or by the one reciting himself, but it suffices that the cleric is conscious that he is pronouncing articulated words.

(b) Integral, so that individual words are brought forth without mutilation or truncation. If the mutilation is so notable that the sense is greatly varied, as to a notable part of the office, the sin will be grave; this nevertheless occurs very rarely. More often, from inveterate custom, or a certain haste, a few words are truncated; then light fault or none is present, according as this is done voluntarily or not. Religion indeed counsels that these defects be avoided; but in this matter scruples are carefully to be avoided, nor, in a case of doubt, is the office to be repeated, but attention is to be given so that afterward it may be recited with greater diligence.

1093. Corollary. It is licit to recite the office not only in choir, but also with a companion, although this companion is not held to the office. But then the recitation ought to be alternate, as is done in choir; therefore, if there are three companions, it is not licit so to recite that one says the first verse, another the second, and another the third; but the companions ought to be divided into, as it were, two choirs. - Moreover it is required that they mutually hear each other; yet if someone, intent on other things, or because of noise, or because the companion pronounces imperfectly, does not perceive a few things, he satisfies his obligation, nor is he held to repeat anything; the same must be said of one who, while others recite in choir, ought to prepare something useful for the office. - Recitation ought to be done in such a way that one verse is not begun before the other has been completed: otherwise it is not integral, and concerning this mutilation the same must be said as above.

1094. (D) On place and posture. (a) Public recitation of the office ought to be done in choir; but as to private recitation, nothing is prescribed by the Church; therefore any place can be chosen, provided it is decent and apt for recollection of the soul. When it can conveniently be done, it is pious to read it in a sacred place; at least let it not be recited, without reason, in a place where, on account of the throng and tumult of the people, the mind can scarcely be attentive.

(b) Outside choir, likewise no posture is prescribed: therefore it can be recited sitting, standing, or walking, but not in bed, unless a reasonable cause is present. - Inclinations, signs of the cross, etc. which are prescribed by the Rubrics, likewise do not oblige except in choir, but are laudably performed outside choir.

III. On The Internal Dispositions Required For Recitation Of The Breviary.

There are two: intention and attention.

1097. • Query 8° What Breviary must be used?

Resp. By common law the Breviary reformed by St. Pius V alone must be used; this is clear from the Bull of the same St. Pius V, Quod a Nobis, given July 7, 1568. In this Bull the Pontiff takes away and abolishes all other Breviaries which from institution or legitimate custom do not exceed two hundred years. Yet he permits that even those older than two hundred years can be changed into the Roman Breviary, if the Bishop and the whole Chapter consent. But he commands that this Breviary be observed throughout the whole world, with only the exception just related. Indeed in another Constitution, which begins Ex proximo, he declares that all obliged to the Hours will not satisfy their duty if they use another Breviary.

1098. • Query 9° Is there still given an obligation of reciting the gradual Psalms, the little Office of the B. V. M., and the Office of the dead?

Resp. 1° Negatively as to Clerics who recite the Office privately.

Resp. 2° Negatively also for those reciting the Office in choir, unless where there is present a custom of reciting the aforesaid Offices from the time of St. Pius V. - Thus the S. Congregation of Rites declared several times. Yet this obligation, where it exists from custom, does not affect individual private persons outside choir.²

Query 10° Whether those obliged to the Office must under grave obligation recite the Office of the dead on the day of the Commemoration of all the deceased, and also the Litanies on the feast-day of St. Mark and on the three days of Rogations?

Resp. to 1st Affirmatively, according to all. But this Office consists only of Vespers, Matins, and Lauds.¹

Resp. to 2nd Affirmatively, according to the common opinion. The reason is that in the Rubric after Monday of the fifth Sunday after Easter it is said thus: "Those who are not present at the procession of Rogations shall privately after Lauds say the Litanies with their prayers and orations." But the word "shall say" imports a grave precept when the matter is grave, such as certainly is the matter of the Litanies. Besides, everywhere the custom of reciting the Litanies on these days prevails. But custom is the best interpreter of laws. Yet some deny the grave obligation, saying that the precept is not clear, especially not the grave precept. - "I do not dare to call the second opinion improbable, but the first pleases me more." (f) p. 483.

1108. • A double order must be observed in the recitation of the Breviary, namely the order of Offices and the order of Hours. 1° The order of Offices is described in the calendar of feasts and in the rubrics for their translation, where several occur at once. From the Declarations of the S. R. C.: a) In doubt the Diocesan Directory must be followed, even if to someone it seemed certain that it errs. b) Simple priests, or those who are neither beneficiaries nor, according to St. Alphonsus,⁴ Religious, can conform themselves to the office of the place in which they are staying.⁵ 2° The order of Hours is that which is set forth in the Breviary, namely that Matins with Lauds be recited in the first place, then the little Hours be added, that is, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, and finally Vespers with Compline follow.

1109. Questions. - Query 1° Whether he satisfies the precept of reciting the Hours who by error or inadvertence recites another Office for the Office of the day?

Resp. Affirmatively. The reason is that the Church is not presumed to wish to oblige someone twice to this burden on one day, and because the substance of the recitation has been sufficiently preserved. Hence the common axiom which is held as a rule in these circumstances: Office is valid for Office. Therefore there is no obligation, the recitation having been completed, of reciting another Office. - Thus commonly.¹ - The same also must be said of any part of the Office according to the axiom: An error is corrected where it is discovered.

Yet it is a counsel, says Laymann with others, not an obligation, to add the proper things of the omitted Office. But when the Office would be notably shorter, for example the Office of some Saint for the Office of Sunday, compensation must be made by reciting nine Psalms from the first Nocturn.²

1110. • Query 2° If someone by error has recited only some part of an undue Office, and notices the error, whether he can continue the begun Office, or whether he is held to recite the remaining things from the Office of the day?

Resp. According to the common opinion of Theologians, freedom is given. Therefore he can either continue, or recite the remaining things from the due Office, yet with the Psalm or prayer finished. But it is better to change the Office according to many who establish this rule: "An error is corrected where it is discovered." But this is from mere counsel, not from precept.³

1111. • Query 3° Whether, when you have already said one Office for another, you can recite the omitted Office on the day on which the Office already recited by you will occur?

Resp. Negatively. But the Office recited must be recited again. The reason is that the Church then only prescribes an Office to be transferred when it is impeded by a Sunday or a greater Office; besides, there is present the obligation of conforming oneself with the common rite of the Church. - Thus Lugo.⁴ St. Alphonsus says this more probably,⁵ and it must be held as morally certain from the Decree of the S. R. C., June 17, 1673, apud Gardellini.⁶

1112. • Query 4° Whether or how he sins who knowingly recites another Office for the Office of the day?

Resp. 1° He commits no sin if he does this for a reasonable cause, for example if he cannot easily have the proper Office, or if for the sake of charity he recites with a companion saying a different Office, provided that Office has been approved by the Holy See and is equal or nearly equal; indeed the mere reason of companionship appears sufficiently reasonable, says St. Alphonsus.¹

Resp. 2° The reason being excluded, it will indeed be a sin, but venial only, if the Office is changed into an equal or almost equal one, because the obligation is satisfied as to substance, provided nevertheless (which seems more equitable to St. Alphonsus,² although he holds as sufficiently probable the opinion which does not admit that restriction) that it happen rarely. - St. Alphonsus² against others who say that it is always mortal.

Resp. 3° If a notably shorter Office is recited, it is a grave sin, because then the substance of the obligation is not satisfied. This is clear both from the nature of the thing and from proposition 34 condemned by Alexander VII. See p. XIV.

1113. • Query 5° What kind of sin is it to invert the order in the recitation of the Hours?

Resp. 1° In private recitation it never exceeds venial sin, because such inversion of order does not contain grave deformity; for the order to be observed is only under a secondary precept and as a circumstance of lesser moment. But if from some just cause you change the order, for example to recite with a companion who has already proceeded further in the recitation, you will be wholly without fault. Some say that inversion of order is a mortal sin if it happens frequently; but this is more probably to be denied with St. Alphonsus.³

Resp. 2° In public recitation it is disputed whether it is a grave sin or not to invert the order or to change the time of the Hours. Each opinion is probable; but the negative is more probable, because a grave precept is not clear. - Thus St. Alphonsus, apud whom the reasons of each opinion may be seen.⁴

1114. • Query 6° What is a cause for inverting the order of the Hours?

Resp. Any reasonable cause excuses. But the following can be assigned, namely: 1° if you are invited by a friend to recite some Hour with him, and you have not yet recited the preceding Hour or Hours; 2° if in the morning you do not have a Breviary at hand, and cannot conveniently wait, then from a Diurnal which you have you could recite the day Hours, afterwards to recite Matins; 3° if you do not have the Readings at hand, you can recite the Psalms of Matins and Lauds, indeed also the remaining things, the Readings being postponed; 4° if you come to choir when the Hour has already begun, you can go on with the others and afterwards supply what has been omitted. Likewise if you come to choir when one Hour has already been completed, you can sing the later one with the choir, and afterwards supply the earlier. - Thus St. Alphonsus¹ and others commonly.

1115. • Query 7° Whether it is a sin to say Matins of the following day before the Office of the present day has been completed?

Resp. It is indeed a sin, says Lacroix,² but venial only, if it is done without cause. But neither is it clear that it is venial, since the Office of one day seems to have no order with the Office of another day. But according to the opinion which holds that it is a venial sin, a sufficient cause of beginning Matins of the following day before you have completed the Office of the present day is if you are asked by another to recite Matins of the following day with him; and generally every cause sufficient for inversion of order among the Hours of the same day would suffice also in the present case.

Query 8° Whether he sins who does not recite the commemorations according to the order assigned by the rubric?

Resp. Several deny it, because that rubric, if it is a question of private recitation, seems merely directive, just as those things which regard posture of the body or signs of the Cross.

2208. • The canonical Hours must be RECITED: 1. according to the prescribed form; 2. according to the due order; 3. at a suitable time and place; 4. vocally, integrally, and continuously; 5. attentively and devoutly.

Now concerning each, several things.

I. The canonical Hours must be recited ACCORDING TO THE FORM PRESCRIBED by the Church; whence:

1. The GENERAL FORM must be observed by all, according to the Constitution Quod a nobis of St. PIUS V, given on 7 July 1568, by which the Roman Breviary is prescribed for the whole Latin Church, and all other Breviaries are abolished, unless by institution or legitimate custom they precede by 200 years. Indeed, in the other Constitution Ex proximo, the Pontiff declares that those obliged to the Hours will not satisfy their duty if they use another Breviary, and therefore that Beneficiaries do not make their fruits their own. (Except if a legitimate dispensation is added.)⁷

2. The SPECIAL FORM of one's own Calendar or Directory must be observed, so that the Office is recited on any given day as it is prescribed there, even if the error seemed manifest, e.g. as regards the transfer of some Feast: according to the decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 23 May 1835,⁸ in Namurcen.

But in composing the proper Calendars of dioceses, the decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved by URBAN VIII must absolutely be observed: where the Ordinaries of places, both secular and Regular, are forbidden, by their own authority, to change the rite placed in the Roman Calendar or Rubrics of the Breviary into a higher rite, or to extend Offices conceded for one place to another place.⁹ - Likewise, proper Offices approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites for some diocese or for a religious Order obtain the force of law, although they have the character of a privilege. Moreover, particular Offices granted only in a permissive manner become obligatory if they have once been received by use (Sacred Congregation of Rites, 2 May 1801).

2209. • Note. 1. Regulars dwelling outside the monastery are held to the Breviary of their Order; but if they are assigned to choir and are staying in another Convent of their Order, they ought to follow the Office of that Convent; "because everywhere they are held to be present in choir."¹⁰ - 2. Canons and Beneficiaries are held to the Office of their own Church, even if they are absent from it. Likewise Masters and students dwelling in a Seminary are held to the Office of the Church attached to the Seminary, although they celebrate Mass elsewhere.¹¹ - 3. Clerics who are not beneficiaries, if they are absent from their own diocese, can conform themselves to the Office of the place where they are newcomers; but they are by no means held to this. Indeed, it is also preferable that one's own Office be retained, lest confusion arise. (Sacred Congregation of Rites, 12 November 1831, Marsorum, to 50.)¹²

2210. • II. The canonical Hours must be recited both according to the order of OFFICES and according to the order of HOURS.

A) The ORDER OF OFFICES is found either in the Calendar of Feasts of each diocese or Religion, or in the Rubrics for their transfer, where several concur at the same time. He who knowingly and without reasonable cause changes this order, by reciting for the Office of the day another Office, sins, according to the diversity of Offices, either gravely or lightly: he sins gravely if he recites a notably shorter Office, as is established from proposition 34 condemned by Alexander VII: "On Palm Sunday one reciting the paschal Office satisfies the precept"; but he sins lightly if he changes the Office into an equal or almost equal one; because he satisfies the obligation as to substance; provided, St. Alphonsus adds, that this is done rarely.¹³

But the exchange is devoid of every sin if it is made on account of a reasonable cause, for example if someone cannot easily have the proper Office, or if he recites another approved Office with a companion; "because the very association excuses, provided the Office is not notably shorter."¹⁴ And thus Chaplains and table-companions of Cardinals or Bishops can conform themselves to them in the Office. The same must be said of those who undergo spiritual exercises among Religious. But otherwise, concerning the Chaplain of Nuns, from the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 21 March 1795.¹⁵

It is ASKED. What ought he to do who notices that he has ERRED in the Office?

Resp. 1. If he notices the error after the complete recitation, he is not held to repeat; because the Church is not presumed to wish to oblige someone on one day twice to this burden. - Hence the common axiom: Office for Office. Nevertheless, if the Office had been notably shorter, he ought to supply the defect: e.g. if in place of the Office of a Sunday he had recited the Office of a Saint, he ought to add nine Psalms, taking them from the first Nocturn.

Resp. 2. If he notices the error after a recitation not complete, e.g. after Matins has been recited, he can either continue, or recite the rest from the prescribed Office. This latter is to be preferred, according to that: An error is corrected where it is detected.¹⁶

Resp. 3. He who has erred cannot, on the day on which the Office already recited occurs, say the omitted Office; but he ought to recite again the one recited, so that thus he may conform himself to others. Nor can one who has omitted an Office transfer it to another day, even one not impeded. Thus the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 17 June 1673.¹⁷

2211. • B) The ORDER OF HOURS is that which is indicated in the Breviary, prescribing namely that first Matins with Lauds be recited, then the little Hours, that is, Prime, Terce, Sext, and None, and finally Vespers with Compline. Nor ought Matins of the following day to be recited before the Office of the present day has been completed.

Inversion of this order: 1. OUTSIDE CHOIR and contempt having been set aside, is only venial, even if it is done frequently; because the substance of the precept remains preserved. - Indeed, it is devoid of every fault if it is done from a reasonable cause, e.g. so that you may conform yourself to the choir, or to a friend, etc. 2. IN CHOIR, it is controverted whether it is a grave sin (and the same controversy exists concerning a change of the time of the Hours). The affirmative opinion is probable, but the negative is more probable; because there is no certainty about a grave precept.¹⁸