Des prières du matin
The Order of Morning Prayer
The children are instructed on the timing and leadership roles for beginning their daily prayers.
At the last stroke of Prime, or at the latest at the Pretiosa, they kneel to begin the prayers as soon as the signal has been given by the mistress, who always attends, or by the sister given her as companion.1 They start with their assigned prayers and then move directly into the Prime of the great office. Every week they appoint one child who starts all the prayers said in the room. For that reason, I'll refer to her as the weekly officer from now on.2
Posture and Presence
The children are taught to maintain a reverent, standing posture during Prime and Compline to symbolize their readiness to serve God.
Prime and Compline are recited in a moderate tone—neither too loud nor too soft—while keeping to brief meditations.3 Everyone remains standing throughout the entirety of Prime and Compline. They are reminded to stay in this posture to show God that they are all ready to carry out his holy will.
Mindful Devotion
The children are encouraged to pray with clarity and to conclude their morning office with a brief period of reflection and self-examination.
All the general prayers said in the room are spoken slowly, clearly, and with good pauses. After Prime, they remain still for a short while—about the length of two Misereres—to consider before God what they need to do throughout the day and the main faults they may have committed the day before, so they can ask Him for His holy grace to foresee and avoid the situations that cause them to fall into those faults.45
Read the original Latin
Au dernier coup de Prime, ou au plus tard au Pretiosa, elles se mettent à genoux pour commencer les prières aussitôt que le signal a été donné par la maîtresse, qui y assiste toujours, ou la sœur qui lui est donnée pour compagne. L'on commence par les prières qui leur sont destinées, et puis on dit de suite les Primes du grand office. On nomme toutes les semaines une enfant qui commence toutes les prières qui se disent à la chambre. C'est pourquoi je l'appellerai ensuite la semainière.
Les Primes et les Complies se disent d'un ton médiocre, ni trop haut, ni trop bas, faisant de légères méditations. Elles sont toutes debout pendant toutes les Primes et les Complies.
On les avertit qu'elles demeurent toutes en cette posture pour témoigner à Dieu qu'elles sont toutes prêtes à accomplir ses saintes volontés.
Toutes les prières générales que l'on fait dans la chambre, sont dites lentement, distinctement et avec de bonnes poses.
A la fin de Prime elles sont un petit espace de temps, environ de deux Miserere, pour considérer devant Dieu ce qu'elles ont à faire le long de la journée, et les fautes principales qu'elles auraient pu commettre le jour précédent, afin de lui demander sa sainte grâce pour prévoir et éviter les occasions qui les y font tomber.
Notes
- 1 ↩Pretiosa names the martyrology moment after Prime (from 'Pretiosa in conspectu Domini'); kept as the office cue rather than paraphrased.
- 2 ↩French semainière is the girl appointed for the week's duty (cf. hebdomadary); rendered as 'weekly officer' for clear modern English without inventing a title not in the source.
- 3 ↩French «ton médiocre» here means a moderate/middle pitch or volume of voice, not pejorative «mediocre» quality.
- 4 ↩French «sont un petit espace de temps» is conventual idiom for remaining still for a short interval, not a literal identity statement.
- 5 ↩«Miserere» is used as a unit of prayer-time (roughly the length of Psalm 50/51 recited twice), common in monastic/boarding rules.
Règlement pour les enfants companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit