NOCTURNS (Vigiliae Nocturnae, Nocturna Laus). - It was the canonical hour of the night already in use in the first Christian centuries (Tertullian, Ad uxorem, II, 4:
«nocturnis convocationibus»), practiced following the example of Our Lord in the Sunday and cemetery vigils (that is, spent beside the tombs of the martyrs on their anniversary), in weekday and daily vigils especially in the convents of ascetics and virgins, and organized from the 4th century onward also in nearly all the Churches (Antioch, Caesarea, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Rome, Milan). The monks recited psalms as a preliminary prayer, sometimes interspersed with «collections»; the readings formed the principal part, followed by responsories. These three well-ordered elements are called N. (vigiliae nocturnae, laus nocturna: Rule of St. Benedict, 9-10).
The N. was recited at one stretch without interruption, whether from midnight or toward sunrise. On Sundays and feasts, to increase the prayers, a second N. was added (Caesarius, Aurelian) and a third («tripartita distinguunt officia»: Cassian).
The Roman night praise for Sundays and feasts, since the reform of Pius X, consists of three N., each with 3 psalms, 3 readings and 3 responsories; that for weekdays and simple feasts has one N. with 9 psalms (instead of 12 before the reform) and 3 readings. The monastic-Benedictine weekday «cursus» retains the ancient number of 12 psalms, divided into 2 N.; on Sundays and feasts a third N. of 3 canticles is added; each N. with 4 readings.
From the 12th century onward the N. is called Matins, because it was said before sunrise. Another custom was to anticipate the N. or Matins to the evening of the preceding day (C. Belet, Explic. div. off. chap. 20; Ord. Rom. XIV, 82); the anticipation was gradually pushed back almost to midday. As a rule, save by special privilege, the recitation of the N. may not be anticipated before 2 p.m.
Bibliography7 worksC. Callewaert, De Breviarii Romani liturgia, Bruges 1931, nos. 222, 304-306; id., De mattutino in antiquo Officio Romano, in Sacris erudiri,
BIBL.: C. Callewaert, De Breviarii Romani liturgia, Bruges 1931, nos. 222, 304-306; id., De mattutino in antiquo Officio Romano, in Sacris erudiri, Steenbrugge 1940, pp. 145-48; M. Righetti, Manuale di storia liturgica, II, Milan 1946, pp. 416-39, 563-69; E. Dekkers, Tertullians en de Geschiedenis der Liturgie, Brussels 1947, p. 113; J. A. Jungmann, Die Entstehung der Matutin, in Zeitschr. für kath. Theol., 72 (1950), pp. 66-79; id., Die Psalmodie als Vorstufe in den Horen, ibid., p. 223-223; id., Der Umfang der Lesungen im Offizium, ibid., pp. 226-34.
Siffrin, Pietro. “Notturno (Vigiliae Nocturnae, nocturna laus).” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, coll. 1964–1965. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/notturno-vigiliae-nocturnae-nocturna-laus.
MLA
Siffrin, Pietro. “Notturno (Vigiliae Nocturnae, nocturna laus).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, coll. 1964–1965. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/notturno-vigiliae-nocturnae-nocturna-laus.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec8_notturno_vigiliae_nocturnae_no,
author = {Siffrin, Pietro},
title = {Notturno (Vigiliae Nocturnae, nocturna laus)},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VIII},
pages = {1964--1965},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/notturno-vigiliae-nocturnae-nocturna-laus}
}
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