Sarum Breviary: Sunday Matins, Lauds, Vespers and Compline (Sarum Use, printed breviaries c. 1475–1557 (Paris 1531 edition among those collated))

Matins: The Opening

[In the Name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Ghost. Amen. Our Father and Hail Mary are said secretly; then is said aloud:]

O Lord! open Thou my lips.

And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

O God, make speed to save me.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to The Father, and to The Son: and to The Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. Alleluya.

[From Septuagesima until Easter, instead of Alleluya:] Praise to Thee, O Lord, we sing, Of Glory the Eternal King.

The Invitatory and the Psalm Venite

[Let the Conductors of the Choir on the step of the Choir together begin the Invitatory, and let the Choir sing it through; then let the same Conductors sing the whole Psalm Venite, the Invitatory being repeated between the verses. On the Sundays after Trinity:]

Invitatory. Let us praise Jesus Christ: For He is The Redeemer of all worlds.

Come, let us be joyful in The Lord, let us rejoice in God our Salvation: let us come before his face with thanksgiving and with Psalms rejoice before Him.

For The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods: for The Lord will not reject his people, since in his hand are all the confines of the Earth, and the heighth of the mountains He beholdeth.

For his is the Sea, and He made it; and his hands founded the dry land: O come, let us worship and fall down before God, let us weep before The Lord that made us; for He is The Lord our God, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw my works.

Forty years was I very near at hand to this generation, and said, they do alway err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways: to whom I sware in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest.

Glory be to The Father, and to The Son: and to The Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Hymn at Matins

[On Sundays from the Octave of the Epiphany to Quadragesima, the Hymn Primo dierum omnium:]

First Day of days! wherein were made The worlds in orient light arrayed: And, life to give us, from the dead Their Maker rising, victor sped!

Far cast we slumber from our eyes, And all with joyful haste arise: And early seek The Lord of grace As erst the Prophet sought His face.

So may He hearken to our prayer, Stretch forth his arm with kindly care; And all our past offence forgiven Restore us to our homes in Heaven.

So here in this His Festal tide May He this sacred Day abide: And o'er us, as each peaceful hour With psalms we hallow, blessings show'r.

Father of Light and Life! give heed! Suppliants we here before Thee plead: O! cleanse from sordid lust the heart, May every evil work depart:

Keep undefiled by guilt or shame Our walk in this corporeal frame, That we may ne'er the fiercer pain Of Hell's avenging fires sustain.

Redeemer of the worlds! we pray Wash Thou our sinful stains away: For us, all-bountiful, a share In endless life and joy prepare.

Where, from all fleshly strivings free, And made for ever pure like Thee, Blest hope! may we adoring raise To God, melodious hymns of praise.

Lord! Holy Virgin born! To Thee All Glory everlasting be: To Father and to Holy Ghost, Long as eternity shall last! Amen.

[Then follow the three Nocturns of psalms, with their lessons and responsories.]

Te Deum: The Song of S. Ambrose and S. Augustine

[The Lesson of The Gospel being finished, let the Priest, who performs the Office, in his Cope in his Stall, begin this Psalm, on all Sundays and Feasts of nine Lessons, except in Advent and from Septuagesima to Easter.]

Thee, God, we praise: Thee The Lord we confess.

Thee, Eternal Father: all the Earth doth worship.

To Thee all Angels: To Thee the Heavens and the universal Powers.

To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim: with ceaseless voice do cry.

Holy, Holy, Holy: Lord God of Sabaoth.

Full are the Heavens and the Earth: of the Majesty of thy Glory.

Thee the glorious Choir of the Apostles,

Thee the laudable company of Prophets,

Thee the Martyrs' white-robed army doth praise.

Thee throughout the orb of the worlds: The Holy Church doth confess;

The Father of infinite Majesty.

Thy venerable, true, and Only Son.

Also The Holy Ghost The Paraclete.

Thou art King of Glory: O Christ.

Thou of The Father art The everlasting Son.

Thou when taking upon Thee to deliver man: didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.

Thou having overcome the sting of Death: hast opened to believers The Kingdom of Heaven.

Thou at the right hand of God sittest in the Glory of The Father.

Our Judge we believe that Thou shalt come.

We therefore pray Thee, help thy servants: whom with thy precious blood Thou hast redeemed.

Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints: in glory everlasting.

Give salvation unto thy people, O Lord, and bless thine heritage.

And govern them: and lift them up even for evermore.

Day by day: we give blessing unto Thee.

And we praise Thy Name for ever: and for ever and ever.

Vouchsafe, O Lord, on this day: to keep us without sin.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord: have mercy upon us.

Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us: Like as we have put our trust in Thee.

Lauds: Psalms, Chapter and Hymn

[Lauds follows, beginning O God, make speed to save me, with the Gloria and Alleluya; then the Sunday psalms Dominus regnavit (93), Jubilate (100), Deus, Deus meus (63) with Deus misereatur (67), the Song of the Three Children (Benedicite), and Laudate Dominum (148–150), with their antiphons; then the Chapter and the Hymn. Throughout the Summer is said this Hymn:]

See vanish fast the paling shades of night, And reddening gleams with light the morning sky; With all our powers unto The Lord of might, We suppliant cry;

O may our God his kind compassion shew, Our dulness cheer, bestow his saving love: And through The Father's grace on us bestow A Heaven above.

The Blessed Trinity perform our prayer, Father and Son and Holy Ghost Most High; Whose glory all creation doth declare, Amen.

The Lord hath reigned.

And hath clothed Himself with beauty. Alleluya.

Benedictus: The Song of Zechariah

[Then on Sundays and Festivals the proper Antiphon is begun before Benedictus; then is sung:]

Blessed be The Lord God of Israel: for He hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.

And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us: in the house of his servant David.

As He spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets: which have been since the world began.

Salvation from our enemies: and from the hand of all that hate us.

To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers: and to remember his holy covenant;

The oath which He sware to our forefather Abraham: that He would give us;

That without fear we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies: might serve Him;

In holiness and righteousness before Him: all the days of our life.

And Thou, Child, shalt be called The Prophet of The Highest: for Thou shalt go before the face of The Lord to prepare his ways;

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people: for the remission of their sins;

Through the bowels of mercy of our God: whereby the Day-spring from on high hath visited us;

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death: and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory be to The Father, and to The Son: and to The Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

[After Benedictus is sung the proper Antiphon entire; then the Collect of the day, with any Memorials.]

Lauds: The Petitions for the Peace of the Church

[After the Memorials followed, according to the Sarum Use, the Psalm Ad Te levavi, with these Petitions for the peace of The Church, on bended knees, without note.]

Unto Thee have I lifted up mine eyes: O Thou that dwellest in the Heavens.

Behold, as the eyes of servants: look unto the hand of their masters, And as the eyes of a maiden unto the hands of her mistress: even so our eyes unto The Lord our God, until He have mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we are greatly filled with contempt.

Our soul is greatly filled with the scorning of the wealthy: and with the despitefulness of the proud.

Glory be to The Father, and to The Son: and to The Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Our Father, which art in Heaven; Hallowed be Thy Name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done, as in Heaven so on Earth. Give us this day our daily bread: And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors: And lead us not into temptation:

But deliver us from evil.

Arise, O Lord, and help us.

And deliver us for Thy Name's sake.

O Lord God of Hosts, convert us.

Show us the light of thy countenance, and we shall be saved.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

And let my crying come unto Thee.

The Lord be with you.

And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Lord, favourably receive the prayers of thy Church, that, being delivered from all adversity and error, it may serve Thee in safety and freedom; and grant us Thy peace in our time, through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the Unity of The Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit.

Bless we The Lord. Thanks be to God.

Vespers: The Opening and Psalms

[Our Father and Hail Mary are said secretly; then:]

O God, make speed to save me.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to The Father, and to The Son: and to The Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. Alleluya.

[Then the five Sunday psalms with their antiphons: Dixit Dominus (110), Confitebor (111), Beatus vir (112), Laudate pueri (113) and In exitu Israel (114–115). The first:]

The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit Thou on my right hand, Until I make thine enemies: a footstool for thy feet.

The Lord shall send forth the rod of thy power out of Syon: be Thou Ruler in the midst among thine enemies.

With Thee is the Princedom in the day of thy power, in the brightness of the Saints: from the womb, before the Day-star, I begat Thee.

The Lord sware, and it will not repent Him: Thou art a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedech.

The Lord, upon thy right hand: hath broken in pieces kings, in the day of his wrath.

He shall judge among the nations, he shall fill them with ruin: and shake to pieces the heads of many on the Earth.

He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall He lift up his head.

Glory be to The Father, and to The Son: and to The Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Vespers: Chapter, Hymn and Versicle

Chapter. 2 Thess. iii. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

Thanks be to God.

Creator of the light Supreme! Bright Parent of the morning ray! Who, in the day-spring of new time, The pillars of the Earth didst lay;

Who, blending Dawn with dewy Eve, Didst in thy wisdom name them Day; Now o'er the Earth dull Night descends: O hearken! as in tears we pray.

Lest the sad soul o'erwhelmed by sin, Lose thy reward of life divine: Eternity fade from our thought, And snares of guilt around us twine.

So may we knock at Heaven's own gate: The prize of life eternal win: Shun every word and work of ill: And purge our souls from every sin.

These mercies, gracious Father! grant, And Thou, Co-equal Only Son! Who with Thee, Spirit Paraclete! Reign throughout endless ages, One! Amen.

Let my prayer, O Lord! be directed unto Thee.

Like as incense in thy sight.

Magnificat: Our Lady's Song

[The Versicle having been said, let the Conductor of the Choir give the Antiphon on Magnificat to be begun by some one of the Superior Grade.]

My soul: doth magnify The Lord.

And my spirit hath rejoiced: in God my Salvation.

For He hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden: for behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.

For He that is mighty hath done to me great things: and Holy is His Name.

And his mercy is from generation to generations: upon them that fear Him.

He hath done might with his arm: He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble.

He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath holpen Israel his servant: remembering his mercy.

As He spake to our fathers: Abraham and his seed, for evermore.

Glory be to The Father: and to The Son: and to The Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

[Then is sung the proper Antiphon.] The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. [Here follow the proper Collects for the Sunday, Season or Festival, and any Memorials.] Bless we The Lord. Thanks be to God.

Compline: Hymn and Nunc dimittis

[Compline begins with the Blessing, the short Lesson, the Confession and Absolution, and the psalms Cum invocarem (4), In te Domine speravi (31.1–6), Qui habitat (91) and Ecce nunc (134); then the Hymn:]

To Thee, before the close of day, Creator of the worlds! we pray: With all thy wonted clemency Our princely guard and keeper be.

Far may unholy visions fly, No midnight phantoms venture nigh: Thine arm the infernal foe repel, No sin within our bodies dwell.

Almighty Father! hear our cry, Through Jesus Christ our Lord Most High, Who with The Holy Ghost and Thee, Doth reign through all eternity! Amen.

Preserve us, O Lord!

As the apple of an eye, protect us under the shadow of thy wings.

Lord, now lettest Thou thy servant depart: in peace, according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen: thy Salvation.

Which Thou hast prepared: before the face of all people.

To be a Light to lighten the Gentiles: and the Glory of thy people Israel.

Glory be to The Father, and to The Son: and to The Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Compline: The Petitions

Lord, have mercy (thrice). Christ, have mercy (thrice). Lord, have mercy (thrice).

[Let the Priest say] Our Father (secretly). Hail Mary (secretly). [Then aloud:]

Priest. And lead us not into temptation.

Choir. But deliver us from evil.

In peace, in the very same

Choir. I will sleep and take my rest.

I believe in God (secretly, afterwards aloud) Priest. The Resurrection of the Flesh.

And Life eternal. Amen.

Bless we The Father, and The Son, with The Holy Spirit.

Let us praise and highly extol Him, for ever.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord! in the firmament of Heaven.

And greatly to be praised, and Glorious, and highly exalted for ever.

The Almighty and merciful Lord, bless and preserve us. Amen.

[The Confession, the Misereatur and the Absolution are said by the Priest of greatest dignity, in a low voice.] I confess to God, The Blessed Mary, and all the Saints, and to you, I have sinned exceedingly, in thought, word, and deed, of my own fault, I beseech Holy Mary, all the Saints of God, and ye, to pray for me.

Almighty God, have mercy upon you, and forgive you all your sins, deliver you from all evil, preserve and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life. Amen.

The Almighty and Merciful Lord grant you Absolution and Remission of all your sins, space for true penitence, amendment of life, and the grace and consolation of The Holy Spirit. Amen.

[Then follow Petitions, by the officiating Priest, after this manner.]

O God! be Thou turned, and Thou shalt quicken us.

And thy people shall rejoice in Thee.

O Lord! shew thy mercy upon us.

And grant us thy salvation.

Vouchsafe, O Lord! in this night to keep us without sin.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord! Have mercy upon us.

Let thy mercy, O Lord! be upon us.

Like as we have put our trust in Thee.

O Lord God of Hosts! convert us.

And shew us thy countenance, and we shall be saved.

O Lord! hear my prayer.

And let my crying come unto Thee.

The Lord be with you.

And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Enlighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, O Lord and all the perils of this night do Thou graciously turn away from us, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in The Unity of The Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.