Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today we will turn to that oldest, most popular of the Little Offices, which is also the one which has long been a part of the Church's liturgy. Of course, that is the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (not to be confused with the much shorter Little Office of the Immaculate Conception).

The last edition of this Little Office was published with the Breviary reforms of 1961. It was not revised in the wake of the post-Conciliar reforms. Nevertheless, it is indulgenced even in the latest version of the Enchiridion. One version of this text may be found here.

The earliest reference to an Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary was in the eighth century at Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino. As this devotion originated in monastic communities, it was common to pray the Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary immediately after the Hour of the Divine Office itself. For laity living in the world, one can imagine that it might be rather difficult to undertake this practice, especially as the Little Office is as long as the Hours in the Divine Office (though Matins is sometimes longer). However, as the text is generally identical from day to day (with some daily changes to the psalms in Matins, as well as seasonal changes for Advent and Christmas, plus some other minor variations) it became popular for use among the laity in place of the Divine Office. One can understand that it would be much easier to use than the full Divine Office, leading to its more frequent use.

It came to be found in the devotional books of the laity, especially Books of Hours. For instance, it was one of the major components of the English Book of Hours known as The Prymer. It was accompanied by the Office of the Dead, Litany of Saints, Penitential Psalms, and Gradual Psalms, all devotions which would have originated (with the exception of the Litany) with monastic communities.

There are certainly some great places to go for information on this particular Little Office. Theo Keller's site certainly provides some good background. The blog Psallite Sapienter provides some good reviews of different editions. Despite the critique of the Baronius Press edition on that blog, I find it refreshing to have ready access to the chants (even if the psalms are unfortunately not fully pointed for chanting). It should be noted that the Carmelites continue to have their own version of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It seems to me that, for Catholics generally, it is best to use the 1961 Roman version.

In keeping with the practice of our forerunners, this Little Office would be excellent at any time. However, those times during which it would most be appropriate on Saturdays, during the months of May, October, and December. While the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception would also be good to use during this last month, the particular Advent character of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary argues for its use as well.

This should wrap up our series on the Little Offices. For the other Little Offices, see the following links:

• Little Office of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ


• Little Office of the Immaculate Conception


• Little Office of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus


• Little Office of Saint Joseph

The Paraclesis

I regret being away for so long. There have been a lot of family and other duties with which to deal. Suffice it to say, I am rather liberated at this moment to begin writing here again.

Before the big absence in posting, I was attempting to bring up devotional practices especially relating to the Church year. It is firmly my intention to resume that practice.

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As you may be aware, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is fast approaching. The feast is often viewed as the primary feast of our Blessed Mother, likely owing to it being the closest thing that she has to a dies natalis. It is the day we commemorate her Dormition (her falling asleep, as the Feast is called in the East), and her being assumed into heaven body and soul.

Naturally, one would expect popular devotions regarding the Blessed Virgin to grow around this Feast. There are a number of western devotions. Today, however, I would like to focus upon a particular devotion from the Byzantine tradition called the Paraclesis.

The Paraclesis (or Paraklesis, as it is sometimes phonetically transcribed) is a supplicatory prayer to Mary. It is appropriate "in every adversity and affliction, as well as during the Fast of the Theotokos, August 1st to 14th, in preparation for the Feast of the Dormition" (Publicans Prayer Book, 463). Since 1999, it has been especially recommended to the whole of the Church in the Enchiridion of Indulgences. No. 23 sec. 1 of the Enchiridion states that:

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who devoutly recite the Akathistos hymn or the Office of the Paraclisis in a church or oratory, or in a family, a religious community, or an association of the faithful, and in general when several of the faithful gather for some honest purpose. In other circumstances, the indulgence will be partial.

Readers may notice that this is virtually the same language that the Enchiridion uses with regard to the Rosary in no. 17. To express how much this prayer is esteemed by the Church, we would need to recall that aside from the Rosary, Akathistos, and Paraclesis, the only other ways to gain a plenary indulgence on any day are 1) 30 minutes of reading (or listening to the reading of) Sacred Scripture; 2) 30 minutes adoring the Blessed Sacrament; and 3) Walking and praying the Stations of the Cross (or 15 minutes reading and meditating on the Passion, if one is legitimately prevented). This should remind us that this prayer is suitable for any time, but especially for the time in preparation for the Assumption.

The term used for the order of this service is a canon, which in the the Byzantine tradition consists essentially of nine "odes," these are in turn divided into thirds, with additional texts inserted after the third, sixth, and ninth odes (interestingly, in the "small" Paraclesis, the second ode is omitted). Before the prayer proper, there are a number of additional prayers, including the usual Trisagion prayers, a couple of psalms, and some litanies. In order to see the basic structure, we could turn to this version of the Small Paraclesis.

When using the prayer myself, I use the version found in the Publicans Prayer Book. Helpful rubrics are provided throughout. My only regret is that the text of the Gospel from Luke is not included in the prayer book itself. I hope that you will give this prayer a look, especially in preparation for the Solemnity of the Assumption. As the Vigil of the Assumption was traditionally a fast day in the Western Church, it seems a most appropriate day for this devotion.