PERPETUAL PRAISE (ἀπανταχὸς λειτουργός [opponere]). — Ancient monastic historians use the term *laus perennis* to denote unceasing psalmody, i.e., the organization of the Divine Office carried out without interruption throughout the entire day, corresponding to the *dienotique* (the office of the νυχθύμερον). Two independent centers developed this practice: the monasteries of the Acemetes (see) in the East and the monastery of Agauno (see) in the West.
I. In the East
Eager to fulfill the Gospel precept *Pray without ceasing and do not faint* (Lk 18:1), St. Alexander the Acemete (early 5th century), after various experiments, sought to establish among his monks the “Perpetual Doxology,” making possible for the community what is not possible for the individual. He therefore arranged a system of shifts to ensure the unbroken continuity of psalmody. Since the monks were of different nationalities, he divided them into ethnic groups, two for each linguistic background (Greek, Syriac, Coptic, and Latin; there were thus, it seems, 8 groups in the monastery on the Euphrates and 6 in that of Constantinople). These choirs alternated in such a way that psalmody never ceased, neither by day nor by night.St. Alexander has been credited with instituting the seven canonical hours, but he does not speak of seven hours for the entire day; rather, he refers to seven hours for the daytime cycle and seven for the nighttime cycle (14 canonical hours). This does not correspond to our modern weekly cycle: the traditional Divine Office does not recognize the definitive organization of Alexander’s cursus, which, after seven years of his liturgical system, led to the “perpetual doxology,” entailing the establishment of 24 *ministerium*, corresponding to the 24 hours of the νυχθύμερον. By the 6th century, the Acemetes had disappeared.
II. In the West
At the dedication of the great monastery of St. Maurice of Agauno (515), built on the site of the martyrdom of St. Maurice, King Sigismund of Burgundy and the fathers of the Council convened there expressed the wish that upon the tomb of the holy martyrs, praise of the Lord should be sung day and night without interruption (Mansi, VIII, 531–38; cf. Hefele-Leclercq, II, pp. 1017–22). For this purpose, the monks were to be divided into nine (or, according to some, five) groups or choirs, which would alternate according to the canonical hours (“succeeding one another in the canonical office”), so that “day and night they might serve the Lord without ceasing.”It is highly probable that the idea of this *laus perennis*, described by the biographer of St. Sigismund as the “instituted work” (*Vita s. Sigismondi*, n. 6; Acta SS. Mari, I, Antwerp 1680, p. 87), was suggested by the practice of the Acemetes; however, there is no direct evidence for this. It is certain, nonetheless, that the institution at Agauno served as the prototype in the 8th century for similar foundations in many parts of Gaul. J. Mabillon and H. Leclercq demonstrate this, for example, in the case of the church of St. Benignus in Dijon, the monasteries of St-Marcel in Chalon-sur-Saône, St-Denis and St-Germain in Paris, St-Médard in Soissons, and the celebrated abbeys of Luxeuil, St. Martin of Tours, and St-Riquier (Centula). The institution was also adopted by female monasteries, such as that of Laon founded by St. Salaberga and that of Remiremont (Habendense) erected by St. Romaric and St. Amatus (cf. *Vita Amati*, n. 10; MGH, *Script. rer. Mer.*, IV, p. 218).
Though *laus perennis* did not alter the cursus of the Divine Office, which retained its order of psalms and readings, it required a special organization of the entire monastic life: night was effectively abolished, as if existence were spent in a perpetual day. An expression of great fervor, *laus perennis* demanded superhuman effort from the monks, which is why it declined after the 8th century. In various churches, secular princes replaced monks with “canons.”
In Rome, something akin to *laus perennis* is found in the liturgical office solemnly sung by monks day and night in the basilicas entrusted to them in the early Middle Ages: “they modulate praises and hymns night and day” (*Lib. Pont.*, II, p. 58). For the basilica of St. Peter, the monasteries of SS. John and Paul, St. Stephen Major, St. Stephen Minor, and St. Martin were renowned.