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Officers of the Liturgy in the Carthusian Rite:
The Hebdomadary or Weekly Officers serve based on a scheduled
rotation.
Hebdomadary Priest = Celebrant at all Offices and Conventual Masses, who Intones the Beginning of the Offices,
and offers the preces intercessions and the prayers. All the Professed priests are in his rotation.
Hebdomadary
Deacon = Whoever, either a priest or deacon,
Diaconates at the Conventual Masses. There is always a Deacon in the Carthusian
Rite for the Conventual High Mass. If a Cloister Monk is a Transitional Deacon, he will do all the Diaconating from the day
of his ordination as a Deacon until the day before his ordination as a Priest. If there are two Deacons in a house, a rarity,
they will alternate weeks.
Hebdomedary Chanter = A Cloister Monk who intones the and Chants the Invitatory Psalm at
Matins, any versicles in the Office, and the Responsories at Lauds and Vespers. All the Cloister Monks take their turn in
the rotation for this.
Two (2) Permanently Assisgned Cantors, one for each choir, intone all the psalms to start them
on the correct pitch with the correct psalm tone. If something runs amuck and needs to be rescured or reintoned, the Cantor
on the side of the Choir this is happing on, will do that. Occasionally, a novice will need this kind of assistance. The Cantors
are monks with better than ordinary chant acumen and usually a strong and steady voice. Ideally, the monks try to listen to
the speed, intonation and how the cantors are carrying the chant to take their cues as how to chant the psalms and anything
else.
All Cloister Monks will take their turn in their order of seniority:
a. Intoning the Antiphons of the Offices,
and, intoning the Responsories at Matins and singing the versicle of the Responsory they have intoned.
b. Reading the Lessons
at the Office.
c. If there are Lectors in the community, the Lectors will read the Lections at Conventual Mass.
Lectors
will be either Cloister Monks studying for the Priesthood, or can be a Lay Brother who has volunteered to become a Lector.
Lectors have to be "instituted" in this office.
The same is true of the "order" of Acolyte. Cloister Monks studying
for the Priest are instituted as Acolytes. A Brother who volunteers for this, may also be institued as an Acolyte. I served
only once, on the day of my institution. I presented the gifts to the Celebrant of conventual High Mass, rather than the Deacon,
and I minister the Chalice at the Communion. If there were no priests who could Diaconate, then the Acolyte would do this
at the Conventual High Mass. Otherwise, it is just another step towards the Diaconate and Priesthood.
Profession in
a clerical religious or monastic order admits on to "Candidacy for Holy Orders", which has replace the Rite of Clerical Tonsure,
so their is no special celebration of that in the Charterhouse for the Cloister Monks. The Holy See prohibits Brothers in
contemplative orders from being ordained to the Permanent Diaconate.
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