BANGOR was the site of an influential abbey and school in northeast Ireland. The Antiphonary of Bangor is a book of canticles and prayers that were used in Bangor Abbey’s liturgies of the hours with special prayers and elements for Easter Eve, Easter Day, Eastertide, Saturdays and Sundays and on festivals of Martyrs. It was written by hand, sometime around A. D. 680. It is significant for two main reasons. It shows us a worship tradition that developed in a different way than the Roman Rite. While some of the canticles, hymns and prayers in the Antiphonary are also found in the Roman Rite, many are unique. It also shows us some of the theology of the Celtic Christians.
Book I – The Antiphonary of Bangor reproduces the Antiphonary with all items in their original order. Reference numbers are from F. E. Warren’s Latin edition.
To have a better understanding of the use of these materials and put the items in order, I have arranged them in Book II – The Divine Offices of Bangor, a hypothetical reconstruction of what a Bangor Book of Hours may have been like, following the directions in the Antiphonary and Warren’s speculations in his notes.
Paul C. Stratman