Canticle

A canticle (from the Latin canticulum, a diminutive of canticum, "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christian song of praise with lyrics taken from biblical or holy texts other than the Psalms.

For other uses, see Canticle (disambiguation). For "Canticles" or "Canticle of Canticles", see Song of Songs.

Catholic Church

Prior to the Pope Pius X's 1911 reforms, a single cycle of seven canticles was used at Lauds:

These canticles are rather long, and the weekday ones display something of a penitential theme; but the latter were not often used, as all feasts, even simples, all over s, and all weekdays in Eastertide took the Canticle of Daniel from the Sunday.

The 1911 reform introduced for weekdays not of penitential nature, and for lesser feasts and days of the lesser octaves, the following Canticles:

For the weekdays in Advent, Shrovetide, Lent and Ember Days, if not superseded by higher-ranking feasts—due to the multitude of feasts in the rest of the year, these make up almost the totality of the days that did not have the Canticle of Daniel before—the original seven Canticles would still be used.

The Liturgy of the Hours uses one canticle from the Old Testament each day at Lauds, "each weekday of the four-week cycle [has] its own proper canticle and on Sunday the two sections of the Canticle of the Three Children may be alternated".[1] The liturgy prior to the reform after the II Vatican Council used fourteen Old Testament canticles, having two weekly cycles.

At Vespers according to the Liturgy of the Hours, a canticle from the New Testament is used. These follow a weekly cycle, with some exceptions.[1]

Additionally, the following Canticles from the Gospel of Luke (also called Evangelical Canticles) occur each day:

This usage is also followed by the Lutheran church.

Anglican

In the Church of England, Morning and Evening Prayer according to the Book of Common Prayer makes extensive use of canticles. There are 21 different canticles listed, recommended for use at various times including the below.

Eastern Christian
Further information: Canon (hymnography)

In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches there are nine Biblical Canticles (or Odes) that are chanted at Matins. These form the basis of the Canon, a major component of Matins.

The nine Canticles are as follows:

Originally, these Canticles were chanted in their entirety every day, with a short refrain inserted between each verse. Eventually, short verses (troparia) were composed to replace these refrains, a process traditionally inaugurated by Saint Andrew of Crete.[4] Gradually over the centuries, the verses of the Biblical Canticles were omitted (except for the Magnificat) and only the composed troparia were read, linked to the original canticles by an Irmos. During Great Lent however, the original Biblical Canticles are still read.

Another Biblical Canticle, the Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2:29-32), is either read or sung at Vespers.

Armenian Liturgy

At Matins (or Midnight Hour; Armenian: Ի մէջ Գիշերի i mej gisheri), one canticle from the Old Testament is sung, associated with a reading from the Psalter, followed by hymns according to tone, season, and feast. There are eight such canticles which are determined by the musical tone of the day. These are, along with their respective portions of the Psalter and their tones:

Note that Psalms 148-150 and Psalm 151 are not part of this system because they are read every day at the Morning Hour, following the canticles presented below.

At the Morning Hour (Armenian: Յառաւուտու Ժամ haṟavoutou zham), corresponding to Lauds, the following canticles are fixed parts of the service each day:

Following the Song of the Three Youths and the Prayer of Simeon there are sets of hymns as well as other texts which are proper to the commemoration of the day or of the liturgical season.

In the other hours, sections of these and other canticles are included in fixed material, consisting of amalgams of verse material from the Old Testament: Ninth Hour: a citation of Daniel 3:35; Peace Hour (after Vespers): Isaiah 8:9-10, Isaiah 9:26; Rest Hour (after the Peace Hour): Daniel 3:29-34, Luke 2:29-32, Luke 1:16-55.

This list does not take into account citations of these texts in the Divine Liturgy (Armenian: Պատարագ patarag) or in the movable Old Testament verse material or in hymnody.

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See also

Notes
  1. General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, No. 136
  2. Canticle Two is normally only said on Tuesdays of Great Lent.
  3. In many Protestant versions of the Bible, this is found separately in the Apocrypha.
  4. Ware, Kallistos (1969). The Festal Menaion. London: Faber and Faber. p. 546.
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