Lauds

Lauds
Name	Lauds
Type	Divine Office
Tradition	Roman Rite, Eastern Christian liturgy, Anglican Communion
Language	Latin, Greek language, English, vernaculars
Typical time	Morning
Major feasts	Easter, Christmas, Feast of the Annunciation
Principal components	Invitatory, Psalms, Canticle, Reading, Responsory, Benedictus

Lauds.

Lauds is the traditional morning prayer of the canonical hours in Western Christian practice and related rites. It has been shaped by figures such as St. Benedict, Pope Gregory I, St. John Chrysostom, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and institutions like the Abbey of Cluny, Monastery of Monte Cassino, Vatican II reforms and the Council of Trent. Lauds has influenced and been adapted by communities including the Cistercians, Jesuits, Franciscans, Benedictines, Dominicans, Anglican Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

History

Lauds developed from early Christian morning prayers attested in sources like the Didache, writings of Tertullian, St. Cyprian, and the Apostolic Constitutions, and was formalized in monastic rules such as the Rule of St. Benedict and liturgical compilations like the Gregorian Sacramentary. The Medieval period saw expansion under patrons and reformers including Charlemagne, the Carolingian Renaissance, Pope Gregory VII, and the Cluniac Reforms; manuscripts from scriptoria in Saint Gall and Monte Cassino preserve variants. The Reformation prompted revisions by Thomas Cranmer and reform movements in Geneva and Wittenberg; Catholic Counter-Reformation responses involved the Council of Trent and liturgical standardization under Pope Pius V. Twentieth-century developments, notably the Second Vatican Council and liturgical commissions under Pope Paul VI, produced vernacular adaptations and ecumenical dialogues involving the World Council of Churches and Anglican Communion.

Liturgical Structure and Texts

The office is structured around set elements codified in breviaries such as the Psalterium Romanum, the Breviary of Sarum, and the Monastic Breviary. Typical elements include an Invitatory found in sources like the Antiphonale, a sequence of psalms from the Psalter (often including Psalms from the Vulgate tradition codified by St. Jerome), a short reading drawn from patristic or scriptural collections like those of Augustine of Hippo and John Cassian, a responsory, the canticle known as the Benedictus (Canticle of Zechariah), intercessions, and a concluding prayer. Rubrics and lectionary choices are preserved in books such as the Roman Missal, Pontifical Romanum, and regional rites like the Mozarabic Rite and the Ambrosian Rite.

Musical Settings and Chant

Lauds has a long musical tradition centered on plainsong and chant repertories including Gregorian chant codified in manuscripts like the Winchester Troper and collections associated with Guido of Arezzo. Composers from the Renaissance and Baroque—Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Orlando di Lasso, Heinrich Schütz, and Claudio Monteverdi—provided polyphonic settings; later contributions came from Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, and Olivier Messiaen. Regional chant traditions include Ambrosian chant in Milan, Old Roman chant in Rome, and Gallican fragments from Tours and Bobbio. Modern hymnists and composers associated with liturgical renewal—Hymnodia Britannica, Dom Gregory Murray, Arvo Pärt—and scholarly editions from institutions like the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music have informed contemporary performance practice.

Role in Daily Prayer and Devotions

Lauds functions as the principal morning prayer for monastic communities (e.g., Benedictine Confederation, Cistercians of the Strict Observance), cathedral chapters, parish clergy, religious orders like the Society of Jesus, and lay movements such as Opus Dei and Focolare Movement. It complements other hours—Matins (or Office of Readings), Prime (historically), Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline—and marks liturgical seasons including Lent, Holy Week, Eastertide, and Advent. Lauds often incorporates patristic canticles, intercessory formulas used by devotional groups like the Scapular Confraternities, and is observed in ecumenical contexts involving the Anglican Use and Lutheran Book of Worship.

Variations by Rite and Tradition

Western variations appear in the Roman Rite, Ambrosian Rite, Mozarabic Rite, and medieval breviaries like the Sarum Use. Eastern Christian analogues include the Orthros in the Byzantine Rite and Morning Office of the Oriental Orthodox traditions (e.g., Coptic Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church). Protestant traditions adapted morning prayer in the Book of Common Prayer (Thomas Cranmer) and Reformed liturgies in Calvinist Geneva. Religious orders maintain distinct customs: the Carmelites and Dominicans follow order-specific rubrics; the Marianist and Salesian families integrate Lauds into community life with particular hymnody and intercessions.

Notable Practices and Observances

Special observances occur on solemnities such as Easter Vigil mornings, the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ, Feast of the Assumption, and patronal feasts of cathedrals like St. Peter's Basilica and Notre-Dame de Paris. Practices include the solemn chanting by scholae cantorum in basilicas and monasteries associated with institutions like the Vatican Basilica, pilgrimages to sites such as Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury Cathedral where communal Lauds feature, and ecumenical prayer services at events like the World Youth Day and gatherings of the Taizé Community. Private devotional adaptations are promoted by spiritual writers such as St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, and modern directors like Hans Urs von Balthasar and Henri Nouwen.

Category:Divine Office