Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Using Noonday Prayer for Public Worship


Using Noonday Prayer for Public Worship

            The purpose of this essay is to guide parishes in the use of the noon office in the 1979 Book of Common Payer for public worship. This office is a very flexible one and can be used for a number of different purposes. It could be used by a group of parishioners in your town’s central business district gathering for lunch and a prayer or for the parish staff to pray together in the middle of the work day.  In those instances it might make sense to just read or chant the office straight out of the BCP without any of the additions mentioned in the text or that can be deduced from it.

            However if you are hoping to use the service to draw worshipers to your church for public worship at noon, it is a bit short. That is, it could easily be read in less than 10 minutes.  But for public worship you should like to have it take 15 to 20 minutes, otherwise people may think it a lot of effort to attend for not much return. First I will discuss how to flesh out noon prayer using only resources in the BCP itself. Then turn to additional resources.

Resources from the Prayer Book
           
So before turning to page 103 with the order of service we should consider an opening psalm, canticle, hymn or other liturgical chant.  The Great Litany is one of the under used treasures of the Prayer Book in the modern Episcopal Church and was used historically in cathedrals at noon since there was no noon office in the original Prayer Books. I recommend the following to begin the office.

            Feral Days                                          The Great Litany       page 148
            Feast Days                                         The Te Deum             page 52
            Feral Days in Advent                                    Magnificat                  page 65
            Feral Days in Easter                         Pascha nostrum        page 46

            Turning to the order for noon, while it will not lengthen the noon office, after a while you may find the three psalms printed in the Order for Noon Prayer to be a bit repetitive, if you pray it more than once a week. The traditional Psalms for Sext are sections of Psalm 119.
 
XI or  Kaph                                                                            page 770
XII or Lamedh                                                                       page 770
XIII or Mem                                                                            page 771
XIV or             Nun                                                                             page 772
XV or Samekh                                                                                    page 772
XVI or Ayin                                                                            page 773

The rubrics in the BCP are more flexible and in essence allow any psalms to be said at noon.

Again while it will not lengthen the office, for but variation and seasonality, the opening sentences for Morning Prayer can be used as readings in place of those in the Order for Noon Prayer.

Advent                                                                                    page 37
Christmas                                                                               page 37
Epiphany                                                                                page 38
Lent                                                                                        page 38
Holy Week                                                                             page 39
Easter                                                                                     page 39
Trinity                                                                                    page 39
All Saints and Ss. Days                                                          page 40

            Prayer, along with praise, is central to the office. Thus prayers are a good place to expand the service. The Collects are one such place were additions can be made to extend the order and reflect seasonality. The tradition is that one can use any odd number of collects up to seven. The Order for Noon prayers has four collects that you can use along with the Collect of the Day.

            The Collect of the day is the Collect for the feast on that day if there is one or if it is a Sunday the Collect for that Sunday. Otherwise it is the collect for the previous Sunday.

            Further the Prayer Book traditionally appointed the following collects to be used for the whole of the season indicated.

Advent                        First Sunday in Advent                     page 159
Christmas                   3rd Collect of Xmas                            page 161
Lent                            Ash Wednesday                                page 166
Easter                         3rd Collect of Easter                          page 170
                                   
In addition it is consistent with the tradition of the prayer book to use the collect of any black letter (bolded) feast days in the previous eight days and on weekdays, the previous Sunday even if it is not the collect of the day.

            Further, one can use the collect for the votive mass that would traditionally be said on that day. They are as follows.

Sunday                       of the Holy Trinity                            page 199
Monday                      of the Angels                                                  page 200 
Tuesday                      of the Holy Ghost                                          page 200
Wednesday                for any necessity /
                                                For all Baptized Christians               page 201                   
Thursday                   of the Blessed Sacriment                  page 201
Friday                                     of the Holy Cross                                                      page 201
Saturday                                 of the BVM                             pages 188. 189 or 192
Any day                                  for the Faithful Departed                             page 202              

            Collects are not the only prayers that can be used to expand the daily office and all of the additional prayers from page 810-841 in the BCP can be used. If the litany is not said at the beginning of the service, then additional intercession would be good idea. I recommend:

            2. For All Sorts and Conditions of Men                              page 814
            7. For the Church                                                                  page 816
and all in Civil Authority                                           page 820

            Another option for intercession would be any of the forms for the prayers for the people beginning on page 383.

From other Approved Liturgical Resources

            The principal additional resource for extending the noon office is the Hymnal. The traditional office Hymn, to be sung after the opening versicle and response and the Gloria Patri, is “O GOD of truth, O Lord of might” which is Hymns number 21 & 22 in the Hymnal. In addition to the office hymn, a hymn could be sung before the noon office in place of the chants I suggested above. Also a hymn could be sung after the office. These hymns could be used to give additional seasonality to the office.

            Another resource that could be used is the first volume of enriching our worship that has additional opening sentences on pages 18,19 that could be used in place of the reading provided in the order for noon prayer. There are additional canticles on pages 30-41 that could be used as an opening chant for the office.

Additional Materials

            The following are additional materials that could be used to extend the noon office.

            A traditional noon devotion (about 700 years old) is the praying the Angelus Domini, a series of three versicles and responses each set followed by the Ave Maria and concluding with the collect of the Annunciation. This should be used carefully, while the text is largely from the scriptures, the petition for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin is not and some people have scruples. So I have omitted it here, which is quite justified since it is a later interpolation.

            V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived by the Holy Ghost.

Hail Mary Full of Grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Amen.

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary Full of Grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Amen.

V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt amongst us.

Hail Mary Full of Grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Amen.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

As I mentioned above, I generally use four chants to begin the office depending on the day and season. However there are 5 Psalm compilations from the 1789 BCP that are meant for use on: Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, the Ascension, and Whitsunday. I use these on the appropriate days.


Before the opening versicle and response you can read an opening sentence of scripture. An appropriate one would be:

On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. Acts 10:9

Turning to the Psalms, the office maybe extended and enriched by the use of antiphons. This is authorized by the BCP on page 141, “Antiphons drawn from the Psalms themselves, or from the opening sentences given in the Offices, or from other passages of Scripture may be used with the Psalms and biblical Canticles.” I personally only use seasonal antiphons for noon prayer, because traditionally one antiphon is used for the group of three psalms said at each of the little hours. These are the ones I use.

Christmas: The Angel said unto the shepherds: behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy: * for unto you is born this day the Savior of the world, Alleluia!
Epiphany: When they had opened their treasures, the wise men presented unto the Lord * gold and frankincense and myrrh, alleluia.
Palm Sunday: Give sentence with me, O God, and defend my cause; * for thou, O Lord, art the God of my strength.
Easter: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Ascension: He lifted up his hands and blessed them, * and was carried up into heaven, Alleluia!
Whitsunday: The Spirit of the Lord hath filled * the whole world, Alleluia!
Trinity: Praise and unending glory to God the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit, through ages everlasting.

Another way to extend the noon office is with an extended or supplemental reading. If you are not using Matins or Evensong in your parish on that day, you could use one of the readings appointed in the Lectionary for that service. Alternatively you could read through the scriptures from beginning to end at noon prayer one chapter a day. You could read the Rule of St. Benedict, the Articles of Religion, the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, or the book of homilies.

A sermon preached after the concluding versicle and response would be another way to extend noon prayer.  I think it would clash with the tone of the service which is vey much praise and prayer oriented.

An addition element that can be added after the noon office is to chant the Marian antiphon after the office.  I only do this from Advent to the Purification, because this is when Marian elements seem most important to highlight and because Alma Redemptoris Mater is the most beautiful of the Marian antiphons.

Adopting the Noon Office for Terce or Noone

If you want to adopt the noon office for mid-morning or mid-afternoon worship, this can be done with a few easy changes.

First, if you are going to use an opening sentence of scripture, the following would be good for Terce and Noone respectively.

At the third hour they crucified him. Mark 15:25

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. Acts 3:1

Second, the office hymn is different.

Terce              COME, Holy Ghost, who ever One               Hymns 19,20
Noone             O God, creation’s secret force                     Hymns 14,15

Third, the traditional psalms are different sections of Psalm 119 than are prayed at noon.

Terce
V or He                                                                                   page 766
VI or Waw                                                                              page 766
VII or Zayin                                                                            page 767
VIII or Heth                                                                            page 768
IX or Teth                                                                               page 768
X or Yodh                                                                               page 769

Noone
XVII or Pe                                                                               page 774
XVIII or Sadhe                                                                       page 774
XIX or Qoph                                                                           page 775
XX or Resh                                                                             page 776
XXI or Shin                                                                             page 777
XXII or Taw                                                                            page 777

The antiphons for the Psalms are also different.

Terce

Christmas: Lo, a maiden hath borne the Monarch whose Name is everlasting: she hath both the joy of a mother and honor of a virgin: * before her hath none been seen like her, nor shall there be after, Alleluia!
Epiphany: Thy light is come, O Jerusalem, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee, * and the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, alleluia.
Palm Sunday: The Lord God will help me: * therefore shall I not be confounded.
Easter: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Ascension: And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, * they said, Alleluia!
Whitsuntide: They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, * and began to speak, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Trinity: Our hope art thou, our salvation and glory, * O holy, O blessed, O glorious Trinity.

Noone

Christmas: There was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying: * Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good-will, Alleluia!
Epiphany: O ye seas and river-floods, shew forth the praises of the Lord; O ye fountains of living water, bless ye the Lord of all, alleluia.

Palm Sunday: Let them be confounded that persecute me: * but let not me be confounded, O Lord my God.
Easter: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Ascension: Exalt ye the King of kings, * and sing a hymn unto God, Alleluia!
Whitsuntide: O ye Wells of Salvation, and all that move through the baptismal waters thereof, * sing praises to God, Alleluia!
Trinity: Let praise and glory resound from the lips of all men to the Father and the Only begotten; * and equal praise be given forever to the Holy Spirit.

If you are praying more than one of: Terce, Sext, or Noone, you will need different readings for the services. You could use several of the suggestions I made above, i.e. you could use the opening sentences for Morning Prayer at Terce, read the Rule of St. Benedict at Sext and read a chapter a day in course at Noone.

In Conclusion

As I mentioned at the beginning of this essay, Noon Prayer as a standalone service is not its only use. It can be used privately for prayers before meetings or lunches. In can be prayed publicly as an adjunct to Holy Communion. But the above should allow you to use the service for public worship at noon.