s us, caused by the apparition of an
angel, who appeared to the monks and sang at one session twelve psalms,
terminating with _Alleluia_. The event was mentioned at the Council of
Tours, In the new reform, nine psalms are recited at Matins; they
should, the old writers on liturgy tell us, remind us of the nine choirs
of angels who without ceasing sing God's praise.

In the new Psalter, the Psalms have been divided into two large
divisions, Psalms I.--CVIII. being assigned to the night Office, Matins;
and Psalms CIX.--CL. for the day Offices, Lauds to Compline. From this
latter division has been made:--

(1) a selection of psalms suitable by their character and meaning to
Lauds (_vide infra_, psalms at Lauds);

(2) a selection of psalms suitable to Compline;

(3) the psalms long used in the small Hours of Sunday's Office;

(4) the first psalms assigned by Pope Pius V. to Prime on Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The remaining psalms are divided into seven groups, in simple numerical
order. The psalms of Matins generally come first, and are followed
immediately by the groups of psalms for the day Hours.

In the new Breviary, seven new canticles are added to the ten, which
stood in the older book. The ten taken from the old and from the new
Testament are _Audite coeli_ (Deut., chap. 32) in Lauds for Saturday;
_Benedicite_ (Daniel, chap. 3) Sunday's Lauds; _Cantemus_ (Exod., chap.
15) Thursday's Lauds; _Confitebor_ (Isaias, chap. 12) Monday's Lauds;
_Domine audivi_ (Habacuc, chap. 3) Friday's Lauds; _Ego dixi_ (Isaias,
chap. 38) Tuesday's Lauds; _Exultavit_ (I. Kings, chap 2) Wednesday's
Lauds. From the new Testament we have _Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc
dimittis_. To these are now added _Audite verbum_ (Jeremias, chap. 31),
_Benedictus es_ (I. Paralip., chap. 29), _Benedictus es_ (Daniel, chap.
3), _Hymnum cantemus_ (Judith, chap. 16), _Magnus es_ (Tobias, chap.
13), _Miserere nostri_ (Ecclus. 36), _Vere tu es Deus_ (Isaias, chap.
45). (_Cf. The New Psalter_, Burton and Myers, pp. 51-52).

"The psalms retain the accentuation of the Latin words, which was
inserted at the request of Pius V. in the Reformed Breviary of 1568; and
also the asterisk, which was introduced to mark the division of the
verses of the Psalms in Urban VIII.'s Reform in 1632." The verse
division of the psalms do not, in the Breviary, always coincide with
those of the Vulgate--e.g., Psalm X.:--

PSALTER V