The Name of the Rose

Paratext on Time (pp. 7-8)



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The liturgical hours


The offices of the Church, which marked the daily and nocturnal passage of time in the Benedictine monastery in The Name of the Rose, were called "opus Dei," the `work of God', and constituted the major work of the monks.

In the earlier monastic period (4th century), the offices were divided into two groups, diurnal ("by daylight") and nocturnal ("at night"). It should be noted that "nocturns" is not the name of a particular office, but, rather, is a collective name for those offices that are performed at night. The observance of nocturns in winter is dealt with in the Benedictine Rule, Chapters 8-9.

Diurnal offices symbolized the "Hours of the Cross," that is, the major events in the Passion of Jesus:

(1) Tertia hora (Terce): the 3rd hour of daylight; symbolized the time of the trial and condemnation of Jesus by Pilate.
(2) Sexta hora (Sext): the 6th hour of daylight; symbolic of the Crucifixion.
(3) Nona hora (Nones): the 9th hour of daylight; symbolic of the time of Jesus' death on the Cross.

Nocturnal offices symbolized the "vigil" or watch over Christ's body on Saturday, prior to His resurrection from the dead on Easter:

(4) Lucernalia, "the time when lamps are lit," originally was a sunset service, heard just after dark. St. Benedict (ca. 500-550) called this office "Vespertina" (later called Vespers).
(5) Vigilae, later called Matins; symbolically a midnight vigil, signifying an apocalytpic or at least an eschatological belief that Jesus would return soon and the End of the world could come.
(6) Laudes matutinales, later called Lauds, was timed to end just before dawn. "Lauds" derived its name from the opening words of Psalms 148 and 150, which are prominent in this service. The observance of Lauds is dealt with in the Benedictine Rule, Chapters 12-13.

Addition of two offices in later times


(1) Completum (later called Compline): The office held just before bedtime, "completing" the work of the day. This office grew out of the final blessing before sleep. The addition of Compline meant that Vespers was split from the nocturnal "vigils" and became a diurnal office.

(2) Prima hora (Prime): the first hour before daylight; added to the offices ca. 382, apparently because the time between Lauds and Terce was so long that the monks stayed in bed and missed Terce. Addition of this office forced the monks to get out of bed at dawn.

Restructured offices in the later medieval period were:


Diunrnal offices
(1) Prima hora (Prime)
(2) Tertia hora (Terce)
(3) Sexta hora (Sext)
(4) Nona hora (Nones)
(5) Vespers

Nocturnal offices (Nocturns)
(6) Matins (sometimes called Vigil)
(7) Lauds (sometiems called Laudes Matutinatis or Matins)

Seven days in The Name of the Rose


The seven days in The Name of the Rose correspond to the days of the liturgical week, referred to as feriae.

First Day (pp. 21-97): Feria i, also called Dominica ("Sunday"). Adso mentions having heard mass in a nearby village (p. 21) before arriving at the Benedictine monastery. This suggests Dominica. The principal mass (magna missa) on Sunday usually was heard after Terce, but there could be a mass just after Lauds, called missa in aurora, the "dawn mass." Then, in the chapter "Toward Nones," p. 70, there is an explicit reference to Sunday. Since Christmas fell on a Friday in 1327, the first Sunday in Advent would have been November 22.

Second Day (pp. 101-78): Feria ii (Monday), Nov. 23. Adso alludes specifically to Monday on p. 103.

Third Day (pp. 181-256): Feria iii (Tuesday), Nov. 24.

Fourth Day (pp. 259-332): Feria iv (Wednesday), Nov. 25.

Fifth Day (pp. 335-407): Feria v (Thursday), Nov. 26.

Sixth Day (pp. 411-60): Feria vi (Friday), Nov. 27.

Seventh Day (pp. 463-93): Feria vii, usually called sabbaticus, the last day of the week; November 28.

The time of year: the week before Advent


The time of year, identified as late November (p. 21), is the last full week before Advent. Eco never makes this explicit, but, in keeping with his concept of a novel as a game played between an author and a reader, he provides clues that enable us to figure out the precise time and its significance. On Feria vi, Abbot Abo remarks that "it was necessary to prepare for the Christmas High Mass" (p. 412), and to that end, he solicits advice from the monks concerning the antiphons that should be used in preparation for Christmas. The purpose of Advent is to prepare for Christmas, over the four Advent Sundays that precede Christmas. Antiphons were poetic passages in Latin, usually drawn from or inspired by biblical passages, that were set to music and could be added as embellishments of the Mass; this practice was part of Advent observance since about the 9th century. Thus, on Feria vi, two days before the first Sunday in Advent, Abbot Abo, playing the role of the ideal abbot who always consults his monks on important matters, solicits their advice concerning the antiphons to be added to the Mass for that Sunday and for the three Advent Sunday Masses to follow.

Symbolic significance is attached to the fact that this particular Seventh Day is also the last day of the liturgical year, for the next day (which never comes for the monastery) was to be the first Sunday in Advent, which is the first day of the new liturgical year.

Put another way, the last Feria vii in November symbolizes the Apocalypse, the end of Time, just as the first Sunday in Advent symbolizes Creation, the beginning of Time. The burning of the Aedificium and the destruction of the monastery on the last Feria vii of November, then, is an apocalyptic event, symbolizing in he end of the world. For these various reasons, then, one might disagree with Adele J. Haft, Jane G. White, and Robert J. White, in The Key to "The Name of the Rose" (University of Michigan Press, 1999), p. 100, that the "First Day" in the novel is Advent Sunday. It is, rather, the Sunday before Advent.

Concept of an "apocalyptic week": The symbolism of a final "apocalyptic week" goes back as far as the Aramaic Apocalypse of Weeks (mid 2nd-century BC), the earliest surviving apocalypse, which is now incorporated into 1 Enoch (chapters 93 and 91), a compilation of apocalyptic material from various sources. The Apocalypse of Weeks interprets history as consisting of ten "weeks of years." The present time is seen as the seventh week, a time when an "apostate generation" is ascendant, whose deeds "shall be many and all of them criminal" (1 Enoch 93:9). The symbolism of "weeks of years" recurs throughout apocalyptic tradition. The number seven is favored as the "apocalyptic number," although other symbolic numbers also appear. The use of symbolic numbers, in apocalypses, suggests that God is in control of history, even though it may seem that the forces of evil have triumphed.

The Name of the Rose is written in an apocalyptic sequence-seven days. Apocalypticism is the concept of an impending end, as John shows in the book of Revelation. God created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh day. Apocalypticism is highlighted in the epistle of Barnabas (c. 120 CE); the first Christian writing to mention the age of the world. According to the epistle "Listen carefully my children to these words: ' God finished his work in six days…' That means that in 6000 years God will bring all things to completion, because for Him ' a day of the Lord is as 1000 years…' Therefore, my children, in six days, that is 6000 years, the universe will be brought to its end. And on the seventh day he rested…"

Unoma Azuah comments: The apocalyptic pattern is followed closely in The Name of the Rose; on the seventh day, the Abbey is destroyed after an apocalyptic sequence of seven days. Apocalypticism is the concept of an impending end, as John shows in the book of Revelation. God created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh day. Apocalypticism is highlighted in the Epistle of Barnabas (c. 120 CE); the first Christian writing to mention the age of the world. According to the epistle "Listen carefully my children to these words: ' God finished his work in six days…' That means that in 6000 years God will bring all things to completion, because for Him ' a day of the Lord is as 1000 years…' (II Peter 3:8). Therefore, my children, in six days, that is 6000 years, the universe will be brought to its end. And on the seventh day he rested."

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