My essay in last January’s Usus Antiquor is now available for free download online.
Unlike the Mass, which has its own proper and ordinary chants, the Divine Office or Breviary is the privileged place for hymns in Catholic liturgy. In the hours of the Divine Office, a hymn’s images often announce a particular time of day. The imagery of light, for example, pervades the Liber Hymnarius, whether it is the light of early morning, the noontime sun, or the daylight’s fading. Light imagery likewise pervades the scriptures, most notably as a metaphorical name for Jesus Christ, the light of the world.