1962 Little Office of BVM - DivinumOfficium.com vs Baronius Press

[HonoraDominum]

I’m a member of an EF (FSSP) parish and have been discerning whether to become a Third Order Carmelite. In my personal studies, I’ve come across the rule for the Third Order Discalced Carmelites that was effective pre-Vatican II in a book called “Way of Perfection for the Laity”. I thought it might be a good lesson in perseverance to make my Lenten spiritual “upgrade” be living my life as a Discalced Carmelite tertiary, circa 1962. It looks to me like the main points of the way of life are:

• 30 minutes of mental prayer per day (already practicing)
• Daily mass (already practicing)
• Traditional fasts for Lent, plus abstinence on Wednesdays and Saturdays
• Daily prayer of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the Divine Office

I’ve been attempting to ramp up praying the full Divine Office through the prayers listed at DivinumOfficium.com, but holy cow is that a lot of time! I was thinking that it might be more doable for this Lent, at least, to attempt to pray the Little Office in its entirety instead, which was the practice in the pre-VII Carmelite tertiary communities. Which is where my question comes in.

For those of you who are familiar with the Little Office, and have a copy of the Baronius Press version of the prayers, do you know if they are identical to the BVM office on Divinum Officium? I know that the Baronius Press version conforms to the 1962 liturgy, but I wanted to see if I could use the DivinumOfficium.com version “on the go” if I happened to be out and about and wanted to take a quick break for some of the mid-day prayers or something.

Also, for those of you who are familiar with the traditional Divine Office, what kind of time savings are we talking about between the Little Office and the Divine Office? I want to challenge myself, but I don’t want to set myself up for failure, so I’m trying to get a good perspective before I commit to this Lenten project.

 

[corsair]

About a year and a half ago I began praying the Little Office, 1983 version, which I didn’t care for, so I bought this version, libers.com/lof.htm . I really love it.

A month ago I purchased the Little Occice from the FSSP bookstore. After comparing these two, I still prefer the one sold on the link above.

I have never seen the Baronius Press version so I can’t comment.

God Bless and have a wonderful Lenten season.

 

[IesumPerMariam]

Ave Maria! Great to know more people are interested in the Little Office of Our Lady! I began praying it when I was invested with the Miraculous Medal. I own the Baronius Press version. It’s a beautiful book, and very compact (fits quite nicely into my coat pocket). It also contains all the Gregorian Chant settings in traditional 4-stave notation, and appendices with information on the history and structure of the Little Office.

In comparing the print version to the online version which you linked to, the Latin text is the same, but there are some minor differences in the English translation. The Baronius Press uses the Douay-Rheims text as revised by Servant of God Bp Challoner (the same edition that they sell as their Douay-Rheims Bibles) for all Scripture passages (psalms and readings).

The other difference is that the Baronius Press version assumes it is being recited by laity. Thus, for the blessings before each reading at Matins, “Jube Domine, benidicere” is printed; the online version has the “Iube, domne, benedicere,” which would only be said by a minister to an ordained Priest or Deacon, who has the authority to give a blessing in the name and office of Christ. (And if you happen to be a scrupulous classical Latinist, yes the Baronius Press does use the letter “J” in the Latin.)

I find the Little Office to be a great way for me to pray the hours in the traditional format, as I simply cannot afford the full 1961 Breviary at this time, and I personally hate trying to pray from a computer screen. The minor hours (Prime, Terce, Sext, None) are each very short – can easily be recited within 8-10 minutes if in a rush, but normally take 10-15 minutes. Vespers takes about 25-30 minutes; Compline 15-20 (that’s including a brief examination of conscience).

Ad Iesum per Mariam