These are thumbnails of the pages for Sunday Matins from the 1908 Breviary from Syon Abbey published by Desclee & Cie.  The previous printed edition of the Bridgettine Breviary had been in 1697. One major difference between the two books is the Calendar, which is, in the 1908 breviary, specific to the Diocese of Plymouth, England.

The Sunday Matins pages are reproduced here for several reasons

• Matins includes one of the more unique and identifying characteristics of the Bridgettine Office: the Sermo Angelicus.  The Sermo was one of the Revelations  St. Bridget received while she was in Rome.  She dictated these to her  Confessor, who translated them into the Latin (of the period).

• The Sermo is the nucleus of the Bridgettine Office.  Simply put, it was the basis for the rest of the office.  After the Sermo revelations, Bridget received another, a down to earth and charming instruction which translates: « Behold I have now cut the cloth to make a tunic for the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven; do you now sew it together as best you can ».  Writers interpret this as a directive to Bridget and her trusted Confessor and friends to complete an office which would be specific for Bridgettine Nuns.

• The Sermo, in the Bridgettine office, is separated into 21 long sections, 3 for each day of the week.  Although some writers refer to the Bridgettine Office as a "Little Office of the Blessed Virgin", the length of the Sermo sections for each day clearly keep the office out of "Little Office" parameters. [It is classified among the "short" breviaries, however, because it is wanting Sunday and Seasonal variations, except in limited fashion.  However, Bridgettine Matins is virtually as long as Matins of the Roman Rite Divine Office.]

• The Sermo, over 7 days, honors the Blessed Virgin in her life, in her role in the story of our Redemption, and in her role as Mother of the Church.  In the older manuscript editions, each day was noted as a "story".  For example, the texts below were called « The Sunday Story ».

• The Bridgettine Office is a remarkable liturgical work.  The antiphons, for example, rather than being devotional flights of fancy, are rooted in the psalms they accompany and in the theme of the day. 

• Bridgettine Nuns were required to pray the entire Psalter over the course of a week, as many monastic institutions and the rest of the clergy of the Roman Rite were required to do.  Most of the Psalter is included in this office;  the remaining psalms were added in other prayer forms during the day (e.g., the Seven Penitential Psalms, the Office of the Dead, etc.).

• When the system of double monasteries was in use in the Order, Bridgettine  Monks were required to chant in their choir, Matins and Lauds (of the current Roman Rite or one of its variants) at 2AM;  when that was finished, the Nuns were to go to their Choir and chant Matins and Lauds of the Bridgettine Office.  The Readings were not chanted, however.

• In Syon Abbey, before the Reformation, a companion text, Mirror of Our Lady, in English, was prepared as a catechetical tool for those Nuns whose Latin was wanting.  Probably written by Thomas Fishbourne, a monk of Syon Abbey and its Confessor General at the time, it was in manuscript editions, at first, and finally printed in 1530.  It was reproduced again by the Early English Texts Society, and is often used by commentators and users of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin as a supplemental text.

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About these thumbnails:

• The Syon 1908 Breviary pages, printed in red and black ink,  measure 5" x 7".  The paper stock is heavy, and the typeface is large (presumably so that the books could be used in Choir to reduce eye strain, etc.).  Of course, music (chant) volumes were also used so that the Office could be chanted. 

• When the book was printed and bound, the Abbey took only enough copies as it needed at the time.  The publisher, Desclee & Cie., stored the remaining copies in its factory in Tournai in Belgium.  Unfortunately,  World War I began,  and when Belgium was shelled, the Desclee factory was one of the fatalities and the Bridgettine breviary copies in storage were destroyed (presumably as were the pages of metal type, the "forms",  used in the printing).  No further editions were published.

• In the mid 1960's, the Bridgettine Office was translated into English (with the exception of a few antiphons) by Rev. Brian Foley (+2000), a priest of the Archdiocese of Liverpool.   The Nuns pray their office today as adapted to the spirit and the principles of the Second Vatican Council's liturgical reforms.

• These thumbnails are scans of the pages of the 1908 breviary.  Because of the difficulty of scanning pages still attached to a book, as well as the choice of format - jpeg or jpg, and because of efforts to "clean up" things (such as "foxed" pages, repairs, etc) which occur naturally over time (now almost 100 years), some pages look better than others.  For those who choose to print off any page, it is suggested that they use the original size of the scan (approx 5 x 7) for best results. 

• Of course, to see the page in actual size, double click the thumbnails.

Added November 14, 2000