>Question to Bill East: my psalter includes a series of collects inserted
>in the text, one after each psalm, which as far as I can tell is a
>fairly uncommon feature in psalters of this period. I would be
>interested to know exactly when collects ceased to be used as part of
>the liturgy and what role they played after this.
See the article "PSALTER COLLECTS" in the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian
Church:
"Collects recited in early times by the officiating priest after each Psalm.
The custom is attested by Etheria in her account of the Sunday vigils at
Jerusalem, by Cassian among the monks of Egypt and by the author of the
Regula Magistri in Italy. The recital of the collects survived into the
Carolingian age, but thereafter was abandoned, except in Spain, where the
composition of new collects continued until the introduction of the Roman
rite in the 11th cent. The latest testimony is that of Smaragdus, abbot of
St-Mihiel, on the bank of the r. Meuse (fl. 819).
"Three ancient series have recently been published, named African, Roman and
Spanish. The African, which prob. dates from the second half of the 5th
cent., appears to be the work of a single author. It survives in only one
manuscript. The Roman is assigned to Italy, c. 500. It is the work of more
than one hand. It survives in a considerable number of Psalters. The
authorship of the Spanish series, which covers only Pss 1-134, is also
composite. Its date is prob. earlier than the 8th century."
J.M. Neale includes a large number of Psalter Collects in his remarkable
four-volume commentary on the Psalms, to which I have occasionally referred.
Collects of course have never ceased to be used as part of the Liturgy; I
take it that is not quite what you mean. Nowadays only one collect is used,
as the concluding prayer for each office, and at Mass, the collect for the
day is said at the beginning, to introduce the readings. Until the reforms
of Vatican II, it was I believe permissible to say a second collect if two
feasts coincided, the lesser feast being thus "commemorated" rather than
"celebrated."
Other collects are said at the Offertory, and after Communion, sometimes
also "over the people" as a blessing at the very end of Mass. Since the
restoration of the Bidding Prayer it is usual to say a collect of some sort
at the end of the intercession. A few specimen collects are provided for
this purpose, but these collects are not ancient, and one can easily make
them up oneself: "Lord, hear these prayers for the sake of your Son, Jesus
Christ" or something of that sort. It would be nice if someone were to
compose a really good set of collects for this purpose.
I notice that at Ampleforth, a collect is recited after the Invitatory Psalm
(94/95) at the beginning of Matins. This would be, I suppose, a sort of
Psalter Collect. Perhaps Mon Lib could enlighten us as to the history of this.
The Supple Doctor.
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