Archive
Marian Antiphon Fixed (?)
There’s been a persistent issue with the preference for the Marian antiphon not sticking. I think I’ve fixed this now.
The reason for my hesitation in saying this is because it appears just fine in the breviary itself, but when the preference page loads, it doesn’t always auto-check the option you’ve selected…
I’m still poking around on this one,
Breviary Improvements
(Cross-posted from the main haligweorc blog…)
Properly Annunciating
I hunted down the issues in my transference code and the Annunciation will occur on the date for which I have it set.
That means that at the St Bede’s Breviary, the Eve of the Annunciation will be on Monday night (4/8) so as not to interfere with Sunday’s Evening Prayer and the feast itself will occur on Tuesday (4/9). I know that not everybody calculates it this way, but I believe that the “open” day mention in the prayer book rubrics should apply to the eves as well as the feast day proper as the eve is part of the feast.
For those who disagree or would otherwise prefer to celebrate the Annunciation on Monday (4/8), that is when it will be appearing on the Forward Movement prayer site (http://prayer.forwardmovement.org/daily_prayer.php).
Changes under the Hood
I’ve made some changes to the breviary. Hopefully they won’t cause any disruption and will instead make things more convenient. Two main changes have occurred.
GET not POST
I’ve changed the way that the breviary as a web application does its work. In the past, I used a POST protocol as a way of transferring information around the site. The upside here is that the url is a lot cleaner, isn’t long , and doesn’t look messy. The downside is that it’s impossible to either bookmark or copy/paste the url of a particular office. If you want to refer someone else to it, you were out of luck.
When I coded the site for Forward Movement, Scott Gunn made sure that I used GET rather than POST because it could be hooked into social media offerings. I did, and have found it so much easier to work with and maintain, that I’ve moved the regular breviary over to it as well. The key advantage for you, the user, is that now you can visit the index page and make your selections, push the button and head into the office—or you can go directly there and bypass the index page altogether! this is the new static link for the breviary:
haligweorc.org/breviary/office.php
Now—you’ll not once you get there that it’ll add more material after the “.php” part. That automatically gives you the office based on the day and time you’re using it. If you want to bookmark the site, make sure that you add it just as you see it above and don’t add the “?d=…” or any of the other stuff after “.php” or your bookmark will always and only show you that day and office!
Index Page Options
If you do end up bypassing the index page, you’ll never notice my second upgrade which is a change in the index. I added a permanent link to the mobile version, but more importantly added back in the ability to select any of the “pre-set” options even if you have a cookie saved. I’ve received requests for this and have wished for it myself—so there it is.
These changes are available in both the desktop and mobile versions.
I tested these as thoroughly as I could in my test environment and was not able to break it. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impervious or guarantee that I accounted for everything. If you run into any problems, please let me know!
Preference Issue Fixed
I think the new Linux parser is a bit more strict than what my host keeps on their Windows servers… In any case, the preferences do work again.
Preferences Problem!
There is an ongoing issue with preferences.
I don’t know exactly when it happened but it occurred recently. My initial reaction is that it had something to do with the shift to a linux server—but I don’t have any idea why that would have made a difference.
One of my issues is that I’m not experiencing it.
If you are, please leave a comment here about when it you noticed it first, your Operating System (Windows or Mac, generally) and your browser (Safari, Chrome, etc.) That may give me a clue as to what’s going on and how I can fix it…
More Tweaking
While I was in there today, I put in some additional fixes and additions.
First, I noticed that the evening canticles following the BCP table—didn’t follow it very well. Too, they often duplicated what wa going on in the morning which doesn’t make much sense. Those have been changed back to reflect what the BCP says for the first reading; the second canticle remains the Magnificat.
Second, I added a new reading pattern which allows for an OT reading at Morning Prayer, followed by the NT reading and Gospel at Evening Prayer.
All of these changes worked out fine in my test environment, but do let me know if you see any oddities in or around these options!
OT Reading at Evening Prayer!
There’s been some discussion concerning the OT reading at Evening Prayer when only three readings are used during the day instead of four. Formerly, the OT reading at Evening Prayer was that of the off-year rather than the current year. This is now fixed. So—if you choose the 2/2 option, you will get the regular “on-year” OT reading in the morning and the “off-year OT reading in the evening; if you choose the 1/2 option, you will get the “on-year” OT reading as the first lesson at Evening Prayer.
Early March Updates
Things have been hectic and events in my life have been conspiring to keep me away from the breviary. However, work continues if only at a snail’s pace. Here’s some recent progress:
- The Great Litany is now up as a separate office.
- The full Offices of the Dead are up:
- The Little Hours of the BVM are in progress. As with the Offices of the Dead, I’m using classic Sarum sources; there are some minor differences between these offices and the modern Roman ones. (And the old York ones when it comes to that…) So far I’ve started with traditional language: Matins
- I’ve implemented some fixes on the mobile version of the site which should solve the problems that people have been experiencing with Android tablets and the Kindle Fire. I haven’t had a chance to test these as thoroughly as I’d like, though, as I cleverly left my Blackberry at M’s office on Sunday…
Year 2 Flip-Flop Added
After much delay, the awaited flip-flop in Year 2 has occurred.
In conformity to the suggestion on page 934 of the prayer book, the default standard is for the gospel to be in the morning and the epistle in the evening for Office Year 2. I know a number of people pray the offices in their church and at home and that it can be jarring when the church observes the flip-flop yet the breviary does not… Hopefully, this is no now longer an issue.
One note, though—the flip-flop will not occur on any Holy Days or major feasts days. Often these a time-of-day reason that the lectionary assigns these, so they will not occur at that point.
This being the St Bede’s Breviary, there is a new option added to the Preferences page that will allow you to opt out of this if that is your desire (it’s at the bottom of the “Lectionary” section within the core options…).
St. Bede's Breviary Blog 