The ''Liber Usualis'' (''Liber Usualis missæ et officii pro Dominicis et festis cum cantu Gregoriano'' or "Book for Use at Masses and Offices of Sundays and Feasts with their Gregorian Chants") is a

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official Church service, religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of ...

of commonly used

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

s in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

tradition, compiled by the monks of the Abbey of Solesmes in France and first published in 1898. It gathered between two covers the ordinary and proper chants from the '' Kyriale'' and ''Graduale'' needed for Masses of Sunday and important Holy Days; those for

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

from the ''Antiphonale''; and Matins of Christmas,

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

and the Office of the Dead from the '' Nocturnale''. Its most important omissions are the chants for the weekdays of

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

and the Ember Days. The ''Liber'' was first edited in 1896 by Solesmes Abbot Dom André Mocquereau (1849–1930). Its use has decreased since the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (opened by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

in 1962), where the constitution on the liturgy (''

Sacrosanctum Concilium ''Sacrosanctum Concilium'', the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, is one of the constitutions of the Second Vatican Council. It was approved by the assembled bishops by a vote of 2,147 to 4 and promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 4 December 1963. T ...

'') replaced (from

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

1969) the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

with the ''Novus ordo'' and the Divine Office with a drastically revised

Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours (), Divine Office (), or ''Opus Dei'' ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours, often also referred to as the breviary, of the Latin Church. The Liturgy of the Hours forms the official ...

. In 1974 a new

Graduale Romanum The ''Roman Gradual'' (Latin: ''Graduale Romanum'') is an official liturgical book of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church containing chants, including the proper and many more, for use in Mass. The '' editio typica'' dates from 1908. T ...

(and in 1990 a Gregorian Missal) appeared in response to the same council's mandate that Gregorian chant should retain "pride of place" in the liturgy (''

'', 116). It resigned the traditional chants according to the new calendar, but introduction of the vernacular has hindered widespread use of Latin chant. The 1964 ''Liber usualis'' continues to be used locally where permission exists for celebrations according to the ''vetus ordo''.

History

The 1904 edition or was adopted as the official replacement for the Medici Edition that was promulgated following the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

, beating the rival Ratisbon Edition prepared by Friedrich Pustet..

Organization

The ''Liber'' has appeared in about 50 editions all with numerous appendixes according to local usages, resulting in some confusion and occasional duplication of page numbering. The principal divisions are: *

Ordinary of the Mass The ordinary, in Catholic liturgy, Catholic liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass (liturgy), Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted with the ' ...

(pp11-111) *Recitation formulas and Psalms & Canticles of the Divine Office (pp.112-316) * Proper of Time (pp. 317-1110) * Common of Saints (pp. 1112-1302) * Proper of Saints, running from St Andrew (30 November) to St Sylvester (28 November) (pp. 1303-1762) * This 1,900-page book contains most versions of the ordinary chants for the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

(

Kyrie ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...

, Gloria,

Credo In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the portion of the Mass where a creed is recited or sung. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed or the Apostles' Creed are the primary creeds used for this purpose. History After the ...

Sanctus The ''Sanctus'' (, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' (, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition and parts of it are sometimes called "Benedictus". ''Tersanctus'' (Latin: "Thr ...

, and Agnus Dei), as well as the common chants for the Divine Office (daily prayers of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

) and for every commonly celebrated feast of the Church year—including more than two hundred pages for

alone—as practiced prior to the 1969 liturgical reforms of Pope Paul VI. The "usual book" or "common book" also contains chants for specific rituals, such as nuptial Masses, Requiem Masses and the Office of the Dead, ordinations, and

Benediction A benediction (, 'well' + , 'to speak') is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the exposition of the eucharisti ...

. This modal, monophonic Latin music has been sung in the Catholic Church since at least the sixth century to the present day. An extensive introduction explains how to read and interpret the medieval musical notation (square notation of neums or

neume A neume (; sometimes spelled neum) is the basic element of Western and some Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff (music), staff notation. The earliest neumes were inflective marks that indicated the gener ...

s). There are separate indexes for Feasts and musical items, the later further subdivided by genre (Introits, Graduals, etc.).

Bibliography and external links

Solesmes Abbey

Liber Usualis (1961, Solesmes notation with a four line staff) in PDF format
(121 MB)

Liber Usualis (1896 ed.) in PDF format
(200 MB) * Bergeron, Katherine. Decadent enchantments: the revival of Gregorian chant at Solesmes. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1998. .
Nova Organi Harmonia (a nearly complete organ accompaniment to the Liber Usualis)

References

Catholic liturgical music Roman Rite liturgical books {{RC-music-stub