CHAPTER IV.


THE CONTENTS OF THE BREVIARY.


SECTION I.

The title of the Breviary is, BREVIARIUM ROMANUM EX DECRETO SACROSANCTI
CONCILII TRIDENTINI RESTITUTUM S. PII V. PONTIFICIS MAXIMI JUSSU EDITUM,
ALIORUMQUE PONTIFICIUM, CURA RECOGNITUM PII PAPAE X., AUCTORITATE
REFORMATUM. This work is divided into four parts, the first part being
called _Pars Hiemalis_, the winter part; the second part, _Pars
Verna_, the spring part; the third part, _Pars Aestiva_, the
summer part; and the fourth part, the _Pars Autumnalis_, the autumn
part.

The Church, guided by the Holy Ghost, has drawn up these volumes of
liturgical prayer, so that for each season, even for each day, her
official prayer may be suited to the time, to different degrees of
solemnity and of rite, and so that it may be fixed and determined, yet
having great beauty in its wonderful unity and variety. Hence, nothing
in her official prayer is left to chance, nothing is left to the
selection or caprice of the individual who recites this prayer; all is
foreseen, everything is in order, every tittle has a reason for its
existence and its place in the liturgy, and represents the end and the
intentions of the Church. For, every part of the Roman Breviary is
stamped with the wisdom, the zeal and the piety of the Church, which
presents it, as an offering all suitable for and worthy of God's honour
and glory.