The Somber Tones of Mattins

In the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth, Benedict XVI writes that in all religions, the primary purpose of priesthood is to offer sacrifice.  Why offer sacrifice?  The purpose of sacrifice is atonement for sin.  

But for us moderns, priesthood, sacrifice and sin are strange, even incomprehensible.  We are existentialists, creating our own meaning.  The benighted past has no authority over us, it is only a cautionary tale.  We bear no burdens of regret.  We produce and consume and are happy.

But in truth, we are also forlorn.  We are shiny, but cold and lonely.  We are addicted to drugs, alcohol, anti-depressants and pornography.  We are increasingly childless, and single adult living alone has become the most common household type in both Canada and the United States.  We are increasingly godless and suicidal.

If you made it through the last paragraph, you are ready to listen to Mattins, sung by the anonymous “A Lay Clerk,” using the Catholic Truth Society edition of the Ordinariate Divine Worship: Daily Office. It will take 30 minutes, more or less. It requires the undistracted quiet of the early dawn. To listen and attend is to participate in the morning prayer, which is part of the Divine Office.  

It is sung by one, unaccompanied male voice.  It is sober and unflinching.  It begins with sorrow for our sins.  It continues into the Psalms ranging from thanksgiving to fear to bitter lament at the trials endured by the priestly people for their sins and for all sins.  It reveals salvation history from the Old and New Testaments.  It fills out the form of our being with the truths of the Creed and the prayer which Our Lord gave us.  Finally, we petition on behalf of those who lead us.

The form compliments the content.  It will not be an easy listen.  It is black coffee to the cloying double-double world of affirmation spirituality.  It will take a week or two, but it will be well worth the detox and the reboot.  

The opening lines:

Versicle: O Lord, open thou our lips

Response: And our mouth shall show forth thy praise

V: O God, make speed to save us

R: O Lord, make haste to help us

May it be so.