B. The allusions to the singing of Psalms in the New Testament shew that it was from the first a recognised Christian devotion, both in public and private (Acts xvi. 25; 1 Cor. xiv. 26; Eph. v. 19; {103} James v. 13). This is borne out by the evidence of the Christian Fathers (see, for example, S. Athanasius' _Epistle to Marcellinus_; S. Aug. _Confess._ ix. 8; S. Jerome, Ep. xlvi.). But it was no doubt the rise of the monastic life in Egypt and its subsequent spread over the whole Church in the fourth and fifth centuries that led by its disciplined devotion to the systematic arrangement of the Psalter for daily services and to its continuous recitation. Many of the early monks, indeed, recited the whole Psalter daily; but the Western use, settled traditionally by S. Gregory the Great, aimed at a weekly recitation, and this system in theory dominated the Breviary services all through the Middle Ages. The normal arrangement of the Psalter in the daily offices was, roughly speaking, as follows: At _Mattins_, Ps. i.-cix., divided into nine "Nocturns," three of which were said on Sunday, and one on each of the following week-days, beginning each day with the 95th, the Invitatory Psalm. At _Lauds_, Pss. lxiii., lxvii., cxlviii.-cl., with certain other varying Psalms. At _Prime_, always Ps. liv. and the first four portions of the 119th, and one varying Psalm. At _Terce_, the next six portions of the 119th. At _Sext_, the next six portions of the 119th. At _None_, the last six portions of the 119th. At _Vespers_, Pss. cx.-cxlvii., divided into seven portions, omitting the 119th. At _Compline_, iv., xxxi. 1-6, xci., cxxxiv. {104} Thus the bulk of the Psalms were said at the two offices which corresponded most closely to our Morning and Evening Prayer; some few were said daily, the 51st was said at every one of the offices, and the others were said weekly. But in practice a festival arrangement of the Psalms, in which a much smaller number, and chiefly of the shorter Psalms, were recited, was largely substituted for the normal or ferial use, thus justifying the criticism of our Reformers, "Now of late time a few of them have been daily said and the rest utterly omitted." The following special uses are also interesting: THE OFFICE OF THE DEAD: _Vespers_ (the "Placebo"): cxvi., cxx., cxxi., cxxx., cxxxviii. _Mattins_ (the "Dirge"): v., vi., vii.; xxiii., xxv., xxvii., xl., xli., xlii. _Lauds_: li., lxv., lxiii., cxlviii.-cl., cxlv. PREPARATION FOR MASS: lxxxiv., lxxxv., lxxxvi., cxvi. 10., cxxx., xliii. THANKSGIVING AFTER MASS: cl.