Musical Offerings ⦁ 2024 ⦁ Volume 15 ⦁ Number 1 1 Musical Offerings 15, no. 1 (2024): 1–12 ISSN 2330-8206 (print); ISSN 2167-3799 (online) © 2024, Paul Scanlon, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Psalms and Saints in the Offices: From Prayerful Praise to Commemorating Cults Paul Scanlon Cedarville University hat filled the meditations of the devoted Medieval Christian? What tune did he whistle as he worked? What truths formed the common language of Christian communities? The answers to all these questions likely would have been some anthem or antiphon from the Divine Offices. These daily services provided structure to the day and were the primary source for intaking biblical truth. Ideas that are sung are remembered, and ideas sung repeatedly shape communities. However, the question remains: What words would these chant-based services engrain in their participants? This culturebuilding shared vocabulary was adapted with the passing of time, for through the addition of saints’ feast days and the integration of the civic and religious arenas, the predominant textual content of chants in the Divine Offices evolved from Psalms to saints’ biographies. Correspondingly, the purpose of the Offices shifted from continual prayer to God to the advancement and preservation of local cults. This investigation will begin with examining the original structure of the Divine Offices before proceeding to explore their content and historical context. The Offices were a set of liturgical services for each day regularly practiced in monasteries beginning in the Middle Ages. The rhythm of services, or Hours, can be traced to the third and fourth centuries, though the standard structure of the Offices was established by St. Benedict in the sixth century.1 Each day of the Office begins at evening with Vespers followed by Compline in the late evening, Matins at midnight, Lauds at daybreak, Prime at 6 a.m., Terce at 9 a.m., Sext at noon, and None at 3 p.m.2 These Hours were additionally categorized into the major Hours (Vespers, Matins, and Lauds) and minor Hours 1 Dobszay, 1; Treitler in Rule of St. Benedict, 159. 2 Baltzer, Prelude. W
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