Nick Baty wrote:As SC has pointed out, there's quite a but of leeway. The suggested verses suffer the same problem as other antiphons: they work on a repeated one-year cycle.Peter wrote:My PP has recently instructed me to ensure that the ones we sing are exactly as in the Lectionary.
The first Sunday of Lent is a good example. Each year, the prescribed verse is “Man does not live on bread alone...” and this fits well with years A and C. But this year, Year B, the message is clearly “The Kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and believe the Good News”. And that's what we'll be singing in our small community.
Actually, Nick, I don't think it's that good an example. In all three years the subject of the Gospel is Christ's temptation in the Wilderness. The only difference is the particular synoptic Gospel from which the reading is taken: Matthew (year A), Mark (B) or Luke (C). It might be argued that the different perspectives of the sources warrant their own antiphons, but I think that would be to stretch the point, particularly if it takes us away from the unity with those elsewhere and those who came before that common Propers afford us.