Sunday, 1 August 2010
Ten o'clock
When I was a priest in the Oratory at Oxford, I was introduced to the custom of saying the De Profundis, at 10pm every evening, for the repose of the souls of deceased Oratorians. It is a custom I have tried to maintain since. Now I say the De Profundis when the church of St Mary in Shoreham strikes ten, both for the deceased of the Oratory, but now also for the deceased of my parish. A devotion I commend to you.
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6 comments:
I have elsewhere come across the custom of saying the De Profundis &c. at 9 pm, as a supplication for the souls in purgatory. The same?
"Now I say the De Profundis when the church of St Mary in Shoreham strikes ten, both for the deceased of the Oratory, but now also for the deceased of my parish." Such truth in those words!
Indeed, Father : Dominicans say it as part of the Grace after Dinner, for the souls of departed members of the Dominican family . . . and I have come across the custom, on the Continent, of tolling the church bell 9 times at 3:00 pm to invoke the De Profundis and Requiem Aeternam for the faithful departed.
I have never heard of this custom before.
One custom I do remember though was when any parishioner had died during the week they were always mentioned by name by the Priest during the Sunday Mass and followed by 'May their Souls and the Souls of all the Faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.' And we then made the Sign of the Cross. Perhaps it was only in that particular Church - but it was a brief moment to remember the Holy Souls which I was sad to see discontinued.
Thank you, Father Seán. I had heard of the De Profundis at 10pm, only because of my time at the Angelicum.
Another custom I came across during my time in Rome is the addition of three Gloria at the end of the recitation of the Angelus.
I wonder who introduced this and what is the rationale behind it.
This custom of the three Glory Be's after the Angelus was taught me by a priest who explained that it is done to thank the Trinity for all the graces and privileges conferred on Our Lady. He said these Glory Be's after the Angelus on Saturday - as I now do also.
Bugnini (!) mentions that at the start of the Council, the Angelus said at sessions continued with the usual Italian trimmings: Requiem æternam for the dead, three Gloria's, and the Angele Dei... He managed to stamp all that out.
I have taken to saying the prayer to my Guardian Angel after the Angelus, as it is a convenient moment to do so.
Speaking of the Angelus, all that is "of obligation" are the three versicles and Ave's, the versicle, Oremus and Collect – the Sign of the Cross beforehand, and the Divinum auxilium afterward, are themselves pious additions.
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