Since matins is not commonly prayed in the congregations of the WV-WMD Synod, we'll begin by talking about the responsory in vespers (evening prayer), and we'll focus on Lenten vespers because it is more common than Advent vespers. We will be adding material related to the employment of the responsory in Advent and at matins (morning prayer).

Responsory for Lenten Vespers

Looking for a little something extra to enrich your vespers service? Consider inserting the Lenten responsory after the lesson(s).

What's a Responsory?

A responsory is a short sung (or spoken) recitation of Scriptures. If you've prayed compline, you've already used a responsory. Immediately after the lesson(s) in compline, the ancient In manus tuas, Domine ("Into your hands, O Lord") is chanted. You can find it in the compline liturgies of both the Lutheran Book of Worship (p.156) and the Evangelical Lutheran Worship (p.323).

Historically known as a responsorium breve (short responsory), this form allowed the cantor to lead the congregation without the congregation needing printed music—a very helpful thing when books were rare and not all new members of even a monastic community could read.

1. The cantor chants a short biblical text to a simple tone.
2. The congregation repeats the line exactly as the cantor chanted it. text.
3. The cantor chants another line.
4. This is answered by the congregation with the closing half of the first line.
5. The cantor chants a doxology, the first half of the Gloria Patri.
6. The congregation chants the very first line in full.

Looking at the example of the Lenten responsory (at right), we would find it fully lined out as follows (with [L] indicating leader, [C] congregation):

[L]  I said, Lord, be merciful to me.
[C]  I said, Lord, be merciful to me.
[L]  Heal me, for I have sinned against you.
[C]  Be merciful to me.
[L]  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
[C]  I said, Lord, be merciful to me.

This is the form employed in vespers and compline (though the rendering in compline in both LBW and ELW is slightly different). This form may also be used in matins (assuming one does not want to try a responsorim prolixum).

If you are looking at the image of the responsory (at right), you'll see that some of the text is truncated. This was a paper saving technique. The first few words of a line that is being repeated are sufficient to inform the singers. You'll also see the use of certain symbols. The asterisk (*) indicates the division between the first half and the second have of the response. This is important because the second response by the congregation will only be with the second half of the line. You will also see two special symbols, the responsum or response symbol (℟, or an R with a oblique bar) and the versiculum or verse symbol (℣, or an V with a oblique bar). The versiculum indicates portions of the chant that are sung only by the cantor(s). The responsum indicates those portions of the chant that are sung by the congregation (with the exception of the first line that the cantor sings to introduce the responsory).

While the text of compline's In manus tuas, Domine is invariable, the responsories for vespers change with the seasons and for feast days and festivals. Even in the greater Lenten cycle, the responsory shifts from I said, Lord, be merciful to me to We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, which is used from the first vespers of Palm Sunday through Holy Week.

• Click here to download the PNG image of the Lenten responsory I said, Lord, be merciful to me.
• Click here to download the PNG of the Holy Week responsory We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
  

Our Current Rubics?

9. A response to the reading(s) may follow the silence. After this the leader continues.

9. ►Each reading is followed by silence. The silence may be followed by a response—one of the seasonal canticles (canticles 7-12) or a classic responsory, or any other appropriate response (e.g., instrumental piece, dance).
    ►"In many and various ways . . ." is said after the final reading (and its silence and response).

The reading of scriptures is followed by silence for reflection. Other forms of reflection may also follow, such as brief commentary, teaching, or personal witness; non-biblical readings; interpretation through music or other art forms; or guided conversation among those present.

The reflection may conclude with a scriptural dialogue. When it is sung, the following or a similar tone may be used, the assembly echoing the leader.

Don't Confuse for the Versicle for the Responsory

In all Lutheran orders, there is immediately before the Magnificat a versicle a short call and response. In the LBW, it is

[L] In many and various ways God spoke to his people of old by the prophets.
[C] But now in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.

The ELW has modified that language and added an alternative. The versicle, as an element in the vespers liturgy, is found very early in the development of vespers and should not be replaced with the responsory or otherwise neglected if there is any intent to preserve the historic form.

A Little More History and Reflection Upon the Rubrics

CAVEAT: What follows under this section is for those who want to dig into things.

The rubrics related to this point in the vespers service, beginning with the LBW, mark a significant leap in practice. If one traces liturgical practice to its monastic roots, vespers was not a place for preaching, instruction, musical performances (other than the actual chants of the liturgy), dance, or any other artistic exercise. Pfatteicher echoes this in his Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship (1990):

The silence after each lesson is a constituent part of this portion of the service and must not be neglected. The office is not a traditional time for preaching, and the silence is an opportunity for the congregation to reflect upon the meaning of the words which have just been proclaimed. The silence is another way of preaching, another form of the proclamation of the Word of God (p.363).

Despite Pfatteicher's encouragement to return to much older practice, it must be recognized that vespers (evening prayer) in American Lutheranism had included preaching early on. Indeed, before it was commonly called vespers, it was simply called the Evening Service in the General Synod and General Council lines of American Lutheranism. Evening services were important in pre-twentieth-century American Lutheranism, especially on the frontier, because pastors were often conducting a service in one church in the morning, riding several miles on horseback in the afternoon, and then conducting a service in another church in the evening. The evening service was often the only service that a congregation might have during this time when pastors were not in great supply. Obviously, preaching was an indispensable part of the evening service under such conditions. The Common Service (1888) introduced an order of vespers that recovered much of the historic form, a significant move away from the forms for the evening service that barely looked like vespers. With respect to the rubric related to the responsory, we find this in both the Common Service Book (1917) and Service Book and Hymnal (1958):

¶ After the Lesson a Responsory or a Hymn may be sung.
¶ A Sermon or a brief Address may then follow.
¶ The Offering may then be received and placed upon the Altar.
¶ Then shall be sung the hymn.

THE HYMN

¶ The Congregation shall rise and sing or say the Canticle.
¶ A Versicle shall be used with the Canticle

The general rubrics in the CSB and SBH are identical:

THE RESPONSORY. The Responsory varies with the Season and may be sung by the Choir after the last lesson.

We can see the sermon being made optional in the CSB—something that would have been considered very strange in the preceding generation. We also see the reintroduction of the responsory, but note that it is held as an option with a hymn being an alternative. Both the CSB and the SBH include proper responsories for the entire year along with the invitatories and antiphons.

Strangely, the LBW dropped the responsories while retaining the invitatories and antiphons. Pfatteicher makes reference to the responsories being available in the Worship Supplement (1969), but the LBW marked the de facto abandonment of the responsory in that the actual texts had become largely inaccessible. This was an unfortunate development in that a liturgical element inviting the people to sing the Scriptures appropriate to the season in a simple musical form was effectively taken away. That said, the marvels of technology make them accessible again (through this webpage).

For those engaging in comparative liturgics, particularly in reference to the Roman Catholic tradition, the responsory might be a puzzler. The Liber Usualis (1961) does not include a responsory with vespers, but much earlier forms did, for example, the second vespers of the Nativity or Our Lord (c. A.D. 1250) as found in the Norton Anthology of Western Music (1980) in which one will find the beautiful Verbum caro factum est. Its location within that order is after the psalms and immediately before the hymn. Later reforms have restored the responsory, but the hymn has been moved to the beginning portion of the office. This reminds us that Roman Catholic liturgy has been by no means been static across the centuries.