I am happy to make available to our readers the following presentation by Bro. Innocent Smith, O.P., of the St. Joseph Province, about some of the most famous and beautiful and distinctive Dominican chants for Compline during Lent.
We also sing these three chants at St. Albert the Great Priory, our House of Studies in Oakland for the Western Dominican Province. We sing the Evigila with the Nunc Dimittis daily from Ash Wednesday to the Third Sunday of Lent; the O Rex with the Nunc Dimittis from the Third Sunday to the Triduum; and the Media Vita in place of the short responsory, In Manus tuas, after the reading on First and Second Vespers of Sundays, on Solemnities, and on the days of Holy Week. On other days of Lent, we sing another Dominican responsory, the In Pace in place of the In Manus tuas. These adaptions to Compline, among others, were all approved by the Proprium Officiorum issued for the Order in 1982.
I hope this provides readers with a spiritual meditation on the spirituality and liturgy of Lent in anticipation of Holy Week and Easter.
With special thanks to Bro. Innocent!
