Angelus Devine Office

[bjcsfo]

Does any one on the forum use the Angelus Devine Office (the shortened one with just Prime, Sext, and Compline)? Is it easy to use and worth getting? Thanks in advance
Bruce

 

[yinekka]

I haven’t heard of the Angelus Divine Office but with Lauds/Morning Prayer and Vespers/Evening Prayer missing I wouldn’t be buying it. Lauds and Vespers are considered the two most important offices and although the Laity aren’t bound to say the Liturgy of the Hours I would think that anyone who* was* interested in praying the LOTH would wish to pray Lauds and Vespers.

You might Google Angelus Divine Office and see if any reviews of it come up and that will help you make up your mind.

 

[w_s_s]

I haven’t heard of the Angelus Divine Office but with Lauds/Morning Prayer and Vespers/Evening Prayer missing I wouldn’t be buying it. Lauds and Vespers are considered the two most important offices and although the Laity aren’t bound to say the Liturgy of the Hours I would think that anyone who* was* interested in praying the LOTH would wish to pray Lauds and Vespers.

It has Lauds and Vespers for Sunday, but not for the other days.

The Angelus Press Divine Office book is very abbreviated and I think the best way to look at it is that it is an introductory book that helps you to start praying the office. It isn’t hard to use, but It isn’t entirely self-explanatory either. It would be helpful to have someone who knows what they’re doing show you how it works.

If you wish to use the book you should also have a hand missal for the traditional Mass as well (Angelus, obviously works, but Baronius or anything else is acceptable too). If you want to be able to read the martyrology at Prime you will need one of those as well (DWFP/Transalpine Redemptorists/papastronsay.com used to have an English martyrology printed magazine style).

Overall I’d say it’s not bad as an introduction to the Divine Office, and it’s not too expensive. So if, for example, you plan on later purchasing the full English/Latin 1962 Breviary from Baronius Press, the Angelus Press book will help get you ready for that.

 

[porthos11]

I would say get the Diurnale instead if you don’t plan to pray Matins. At least the Diurnale contains all Hours except for Matins. I would rather people focus, as much as possible on Lauds and Vespers rather than little Hours.

 

[yinekka]

I have a one volume Liturgy of the Hours, the four volume was too expensive, and it has all of the hours except Readings/Matins. I learnt how to pray the LOTH by studying the book “Divine Office For Dodos” by Madeline Pecora Nugent. I had asked a priest and a religious sister but I couldn’t understand their explanation. The book is very user friendly.

 

[porthos11]

I have a one volume Liturgy of the Hours, the four volume was too expensive, and it has all of the hours except Readings/Matins. I learnt how to pray the LOTH by studying the book “Divine Office For Dodos” by Madeline Pecora Nugent. I had asked a priest and a religious sister but I couldn’t understand their explanation. The book is very user friendly.

The context of the original poster makes it clear that he was interested in the Extraordinary Form Divine Office, not the Ordinary Form Liturgy of the Hours.

 

[Windmill]

I currently use the Angelus Press Divine Office. I’ve actually owned and used just about every form of the Office out there for Roman Catholics. I’ve used:

The Liturgy of the Hours (Shorter Christian Prayer, Christian Prayer and 4 volume)
Liturgia Horarum (Latin 4 volume LotH)
Little Office of the BVM (pre and post-concilliar)
Monastic Diurnal
Diurnale Romanum
Lauds and Vespers (Stravinskas ed.)

Here’s my take:

If you have the time (I mean a LOT of time), then consider one of the fuller Offices in the Extraordinary Form (full breviary or Diurnale) or the Full Liturgy of the Hours.

Unless you are fluent in Latin, get an English or bi-lingual breviary. If you are fluent, I’d suggest the Diurnale Romanum by pcpbooks.net

I found out that I over-estimated my ability to pray in Latin. I’ve sung for a Latin Gregorian chant group for 6 years, and I studied some Latin. It was not enough to make my prayer real prayer when the text was all in Latin. It was just a translation exercise.

That having been said, I did find that having SOME Latin was helpful. So I sought out a bi-lingual prayer book.

I also found that I wanted to pray the Rosary daily. That being the case, I had to use a shorter form of an Office. I have a full time business, a wife, and four kids. Praying any full Office and the Rosary would take me away from my vocation.

Finally, I find that the modern Office has more of a focus on temporal concerns while the older Office focused more on spiritual battles. The older Office fit my temperament better. I’m glad I moved on to the traditional Office.

I found that the Angelus Press Divine Office fits my lifestyle the best. It is Latin/English. It is short enough to allow me time to pray the Rosary. It has the traditional prayers of the older Office that are very spiritually focused. It also has chant notation and beautiful pictures. The book itself is a little odd to hold in the hand, but it is thin so it is easily stashed in a briefcase. The leather binding promises a long lasting prayerbook that will not fall apart. AP books have really undergone a facelift and are very high quality lately.

The only thing is that there is a small learning curve. I used this website, www.divinumofficium.com , to guide me through the Office for a few weeks to get my feel for the flow of things. Now, all I use the website for is Propers. Even then, it’s as needed.

You may consider waiting for the Baronius Press breviary to come out if you want the full office, bilingual, traditional form. However, Matins is a HUGE commitment and may not be practical. Also, if you buy the Baronius breviary and don’t pray Matins, you’re carrying around a brick all day.

As to those who say “Lauds and Vespers are the key hours, so you shouldn’t skip them,” I’d respond: “Pray the traditional hour of Prime from the AP Office and put that up against the English Lauds or Vespers from the Liturgy of the Hours and see what gives you more spiritual nourishment.” People may answer differently, but they will quickly see what helps them more.

 

[yinekka]

The context of the original poster makes it clear…

The context didn’t make it clear to me Porthos otherwise I wouldn’t have posted the material I did. Thank you for the correction.

 

[Windmill]

Since the office of Prime was abolished after Vatican II, some may have assumed that responders would catch that it is the pre-Concilliar Office. Also, since Angelus Press is the printing arm of the SSPX in America, we can safely assume they don’t print post-concilliar liturgical books

I’m still loving this shortened form of the old office. I have barely touched my 4-volume LOTH since getting my APDO.