Invitatory
Psalm used to start daily prayers
The invitatory (Latin: invitatorium; also invitatory psalm) begins the Divine Office of a liturgical day in Catholic and Anglican traditions. It consists of the versicle: Domine, labia mea aperies... ("Lord, open our lips: And we shall praise your name"), and a responsorially sung psalm. Most often it is Psalm 94(95), also known as the Venite, from his opening words "Come, let us sing for joy before the Lord"). The term invitatory derives from Medieval Latin invītātōrium, derived from invītāre, "to invite." The invitatory includes an antiphon to the psalm, which changes depending on the feast or time in the liturgical year and culminates in the exclamation Venite adoremus ("Come, let us adore him").
01Catholic
The invitatory is used to start Nocturns in the Liturgy of the Hours, the Catholic Church's Divine Office. It is usually Psalm 94(95). After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is sung or said either before Matins or Lauds, whichever is said first in a liturgical day. In place of Psalm 94(95), Psalm 99(100), Psalm 66(67), or Psalm 23(24) may be used as circumstances may suggest.
02Anglican
In the Episcopal Church, the Morning Prayer office opens with an invitatory psalm, either the Venite (Psalm 95:1-7, or the entire psalm on Ash Wednesday, Holy Saturday, and all Fridays in Lent) or the Jubilate (Psalm 100). An invitatory antiphon may appear before, or before and after the invitatory psalm. The invitatory may be spoken or sung; there are several musical settings in plainsong or Anglican chant.
An invitatory psalm may also be substituted for the Phos Hilaron in Evening Prayer.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Invitatory”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Invitatory from the Office of the Dead (Benedictine Antiphonary).jpg by Unknown author, Public domain
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