Medieval Influences on Our Churches - Part II

 Once a month my church celebrates Matins.  During Lent we also use Vespers and Compline.  All of these are from the ancient services of the canonical hours.  During the Middle Ages it was customary, at least in England, to celebrate what they called "The Office" or "The Divine Office" at least once a day, in addition to Mass.  The Office included Matins, Vespers and Compline, besides other offices we normally associate with monastic worship such as Sext, Terce, Lauds, and Nones.

Now I know of no modern churches that incorporate "The Office" as did the Medievals, not even the modern Roman Catholic Church.  As a result one seldom, if ever, uses such services in the public worship of a typical congregation, at least in my observation. It may be observed in smaller communities and among clergy, but I never hear of my Catholic neighbors going to Matins. Now substituting Matins for a service of Holy Communion (the Mass) is certainly not medieval.  But the fact that the Lutheran Church has kept these services alive, albeit in a way different than the medieval era, is interesting.  Churches adopting contemporary worship certainly do not keep Matins or Vespers or any of the canonical hours.  And that is a shame.  Another tradition lost on another generation.  Yet in a small way many traditional Lutheran churches, with full liturgies for Matins, Vespers and Compline, continue to use these service of "The Office" along with psalms appointed for the day.  Anglican scholar Masey Shepherd notes of Luther's reforms: "Luther was prepared to continue the tradition of the Daily Offices in his Latin Mass of 1523...He valued the daily reading of the Psalms and lessons. But he felt that Matins (Lauds) and Vespers were sufficient...."

The Medieval Church, for all of its excesses and problems, did seem more saturated and immersed in daily worship than the modern church.  I realize we would never get a modern parishoner to show up for all these services as their medieval equivalent did.  But it would be nice to restore even a part of that sense of worshipful piety.   

See: 

Shepherd, Massey H. The Psalms in Christian Worship. Augsburg Fortress, 1969. 

Orme, Nicholas. Going to Church in Medieval England. Yale, 2021.

Introduction to the Divine Office, for Laymen: part 1 | Under the Mantle

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