Hey Clan!
Irish monasticism, like any other, practiced the monastic Horarium.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “We’re one sentence in, and already she’s throwing big terms at us.”
Don’t worry, I won’t throw it at you too much.
Basically, the monastic Horarium was the practice of dividing day and night into regular prayer times for a monastic community. In layman’s terms, these were set hours of prayer.
There now, that wasn’t so scary was it?
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
These hours varied from church to church, and culture to culture. For the Irish, their oldest timetable was set sometime in the middle of the fifth century.
There were originally six offices, with a seventh office, Prime, added in the seventh century. However, it did not occur at the seventh hour, which would’ve been coincidental. Or would it?
All kidding aside, I’ll lay out each office for you, and its significance.
Irish names for each hour or office are listed first, with the common name in parenthesis. Except in the case of Prime, where it seems they just went with the official title.
The Hours of Prayer
Prime
6 AM. Six in the morning, biblically, was always regarded as the first hour of the day.
Teirt (Terce)
9 AM. This was considered the hour when Christ was sent to Pilate, and the Holy Spirit indwelled the Apostles.
Medón lái (Sext)
12 PM. Noon was traditionally considered the hour of Adam’s sin, and Christ’s crucifixion.
Nóin (None)
3 PM. This was considered the hour when Christ died, and when the angel visited Cornelius the Centurion.
Espartu (Vespers)
6 PM. The time under old Jewish law, when sacrifice took place.
Midnocht (Nocturns)
12 AM. Midnight was considered the time when God created the elements.
Iamérge (Matins)
3 AM. When Peter denied Christ for the third time, coinciding with Christ’s sufferings in the house of Caiaphas.
Photo by Dimitry Anikin on Unsplash
Following the model of the early Desert Fathers, the Irish structured these prayer offices around reciting the entire Psalter from memory. Three psalms might be sung during Prime, Teirt, Medón lái, and Nóin.
The most prolonged recitations occurred during the night offices. Up to thirty-six psalms had to be accounted for from the point the monks assembled for Iamérge on Monday, through Friday. Saturday through Sunday the amount of recitations arose to as many as seventy-five. This meant that each office had the potential to last several hours. Needless to say, the monks didn’t get that much sleep.
During the prayer offices, the community would divide its brethren into equal groups of up to four monks who each took turns singing. The singer would stand while the listeners sat. All arose for a choral recitation of the Gloria at the end of each psalm. On occasion hymns might be sung, and a lesson read from both the Old and New Testaments. On the weekends, the New Testament lesson was augmented with an extra passage from one of the Gospels.
A Demonstration of Martyrdom
Irish monasticism held strongly to an ideal of martyrdom, believing that it came in three forms. We won’t go into all those now, but one form, focused solely on penance and self-mortification. The extent of penance and forms of abasement also varied from house to house or to the individual. Its distinction among Irish monks, stood out during the prayer offices.
Apart from recitation of psalms, and lessons given, numerous collects were interjected between the recitations along with other prayers.
After each psalm, they bowed to the alter.
During the collects they went to their knees.
Worship was marked by kneeling with arms outstretched in a posture known as crosfigel, then throwing themselves fully prostrate to the floor.
The more genuflections made, the more devout the monk showed himself to be. In fact, one 18th century monk was recorded as habitually making three hundred genuflections every night!
That’s some hardcore crosfigel.
Sources & Resources
This is just a taste of the life of an Irish monk. If you’d like to learn more, here are a few of the sources I’ve cited from that you can use to slake your historical appetite:
- How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
- Sun Dancing by Geoffrey Moorhouse
- Isle of the Saints by Lisa M. Bitel
Wow! Those Irish monks were hardcore devoted! I would never have made a good monk. So grateful our relationship to God does not require all that. Thank you, Melissa, for a glimpse into history on that front. Super interesting!
Amen to that, Pearl! One of the things I constantly came away with while researching Irish monasticism was the contrast of Grace versus a works-based salvation. Or even the perspective of personal motivation for devotion. Absolutely, there were monks who did it out of a passion to draw close to God. But then there were a great many who became Pharisaical in their efforts. It was a “look at me and see how righteous and devoted I am because of my suffering.” So you know that clash was a constant presence in that environment.