4 Scanlon ⦁ Psalms and Saints lessons and readings in the major Hours.15 Traditionally, they could contain as much as a whole chapter from the Psalms or as little as a single verse, although they evolved within a couple centuries to regularly include synthesized texts from throughout the Scriptures.16 The final musical category, hymns, was the least frequent element and they were often banned in different regions because of their non-scriptural content.17 By far, the main content of St. Benedict’s Offices was the Book of Psalms, and its constant repetition would have engraved those sacred words onto the minds of the participants. This saturation of the liturgy with Psalms was maintained, even against the first inroads of corruption in following centuries. The original foundation of the Offices in the Psalms and other Scripture was reaffirmed throughout the early Middle Ages as is exemplified through the efforts of Helisachar from the ninth century. He was employed by the Archbishop of Narbonne in Southern France to investigate the “appropriateness” of a few of the pairings of different antiphons and verses, but he found larger patterns of incongruity and lack of authority for the texts in use in that region.18 He explicitly ascribed authority only to texts directly derived from Scripture or early church fathers, and he toiled with a large team to ensure everything was derived from either of these two sources. In the end, he could declare “we have rejected those antiphons and responsories that were lacking in authority and reason and were thus unworthy to be sung in the praise of God.”19 Such intentions and diligence are commendable throughout all generations. His zeal for renewing the scriptural authority of the Offices extended even to overseeing the teaching of old forgotten melodies so that the Offices’ original spirit might be renewed. Although Helisachar’s actions were restricted to a certain time and region, they reflect a broader, conservative pattern. Even as the days for the festal Offices were increasingly standardized, the dedication to the Psalms initially remained intact. While different antiphons were selected to match the subject matter of each feast day, the exceptions to the normal structure were usually rearranging the order of the Psalms rather 15 Hughes, The Versified Office, 236. 16 Weinmann, 18–19; Baltzer, Ch. 7. 17 Weinmann, 20. 18 Helisachar, 176. 19 Helisachar, 177.
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