ANOTHER thread on "Christian Prayer" (LOTH)

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HOPEFUL_IN_UK

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A couple of years ago, I found a very dog-eared copy of Christian Prayer (Catholic Book Publishing Company) at a second-hand bookstore. I figured, for $7, it was worth checking out. I had a friend who prayed the LOTH with his family, and other friends who prayed it. But, nobody was really able to help me figured it out. I’m sorry, but I am absolutely unable to even listen to someone explaining “Well, if it’s Easter, you do this, unless it’s a solemnity, then you do that…” :confused:

(It all reminded me of that episode of Star Trek where Captain Kirk invents the game of “Fizzbin.”)

So, the book has sat around, unused. Recently, I decided to give it another try. I know there are these little guides from St. Joseph’s Press that I think tell you how to use the book. But, I live in the UK and I can’t find them anywhere. And, I’m not even sure that that’s what I need.

There are web sites that will give you that day’s prayers, but I don’t want to print out prayers every day. (And I can’t actually pray seriously in front of my computer.)

So, I ordered the book Shorter Christian Prayer. I found it used and I am eager to see what it will be like. I hear it is easier to use than Christian Prayer. OTOH, I don’t know that it will be. Not if I’m still expected to do the Fizzbin “If it’s a Memorial during Advent…” thing. I just. can’t. do. it. 🤷

Meanwhile, I was doing some searching around on here for threads containing “Shorter Christian Prayer” and I found a post with this web site:

liturgyofthehours.org/todays_prayers.html

It appears to have the page number guides for both Christian Prayer AND the Four-Volume Set. You can print out the current month’s guide. So, I tried it…

and it worked! I actually prayed Evening Prayer for today! (A bit early in the day, but oh, well.) All I had to do was turn to the page number indicated. (My copy of the book also contains common texts on a little insert page, so the canticles were handy to me.)

I still don’t know what to expect with Shorter Christian Prayer, but I may figure out how to use it, someday. It looks much easier to use. Certainly easier to carry about than a severely dog-eared *Christian Prayer. *In the meantime, it seems that I can just follow the directions on this website and I’ll be good to go. 👍
 
You will find that the Shorter is a lot easier than regular Christian Prayer. I did the Shorter for about a year and had very little trouble. There isn’t as much flipping around. If you use the Shorter for a while, Christian Prayer will be easier to undersand.
I just switched and have found this to be true.

In the Shorter, there is a four week psalter for Morning and Evening Prayer. There is no Daytime Prayer or Office of Readings. The OOR is what takes up most of the space.

God Bless,
Joyful_1
 
Joyful_1 said:
You will find that the Shorter is a lot easier than regular Christian Prayer. I did the Shorter for about a year and had very little trouble. There isn’t as much flipping around. If you use the Shorter for a while, Christian Prayer will be easier to undersand.
I just switched and have found this to be true.

In the Shorter, there is a four week psalter for Morning and Evening Prayer. There is no Daytime Prayer or Office of Readings. The OOR is what takes up most of the space.

God Bless,
Joyful_1
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But… don’t I still have to figure out if it’s a memorial or a solemnity or whatever? That’s what I’m afraid of. It’s allllll gibberish to me. :o
 
HOPEFUL_IN_UK said:
But… don’t I still have to figure out if it’s a memorial or a solemnity or whatever? That’s what I’m afraid of. It’s allllll gibberish to me. :o
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Not nearly as much as with the Christian Prayer. All of the memorials and solemnities are in the book with their dates so you shouldn’t have too much trouble firguring out if it is a day when you need to do something different. There really isn’t that much jumping around in the Shorter. There isn’t a guide because you don’t really need one, but if you want a guide for Christian Prayer I think you can get them on Amazon.com. Don’t they ship to the UK?🤷

God Bless,
Joyful_1
 
That St. Francis de Sales page looks like it could be helpful,but I don’t understand it. What does the following mean?

Thu. Thursday of the 2nd Week of Easter
MP (466) 824; DP 1012; EP (467) 830; NP 1049
[OOR 1819, Rd 1910f & 1989f; Pr 467]

Specifically, what is that Office of Reading stuff? I see readings for Easter on page 1910, etc… but what is the “f”?
 
Joyful_1 said:
Not nearly as much as with the Christian Prayer. All of the memorials and solemnities are in the book with their dates so you shouldn’t have too much trouble firguring out if it is a day when you need to do something different. There really isn’t that much jumping around in the Shorter. There isn’t a guide because you don’t really need one, but if you want a guide for Christian Prayer I think you can get them on Amazon.com. Don’t they ship to the UK?🤷

God Bless,
Joyful_1
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Yes, but it would cost a ridiculous amount of money by the time you pay shipping. More than I was willing to pay for something I couldn’t look at, first, to be sure it would help.

The website I linked above does what I need perfectly. And it’s free! Although it only has morning and evening prayer… which is probably all I’d have time for, anyway.
 
my standard advice for anyone who is just starting out, while you are learning to use the guides, is to pray with someone who knows how, find a website or guide that tells you “what page we are on” but if it is frustrating you not to have help, to the point that you stop trying to pray LOTH, just stay with the 4-week psalm cycle for even a whole year while you get used to the rhythm. the pages called “the ordinary” at the beginning will be enough explanation for that. don’t even worry about feasts, memorials, office of readings, seasons, etc. at the beginning. It will be enough of a learning curve to figure out what to do on Sunday for the first few months.
 
Another resource to consider is The Magnificat. It is a monthly booklet that contains morning and evening prayer, daily Mass readings and a variety of reflections. Special editions come out for Holy Week and Christmas. It does have a yearly subscription cost to it but it is an easy way to get into the rhythm of LOH for beginners.

The main thing I liked about it as I first began to learn LOH is that there is NO flipping of the pages other than to find the canticles. Even then, Magnificat tells you what page to find it. It will tell you what feasts, memorials, or solemnity it is for each day of the month.

This little magazine offers a shorten version of LOH but they are easy to carry around and helps to get even the simplest person to pray each day. I have since moved on to the Christian Prayer as I wanted more depth to my praying of the hours but I still maintain my subscription for the meditations.

It is worth checking out until you figure out how LOH goes.
👍
 
But… don’t I still have to figure out if it’s a memorial or a solemnity or whatever? That’s what I’m afraid of. It’s allllll gibberish to me.

Don’t worry. You’ll learn.
 
HOPEFUL_IN_UK said:
That St. Francis de Sales page looks like it could be helpful,but I don’t understand it. What does the following mean?

Thu. Thursday of the 2nd Week of Easter
MP (466) 824; DP 1012; EP (467) 830; NP 1049
[OOR 1819, Rd 1910f & 1989f; Pr 467]

Specifically, what is that Office of Reading stuff? I see readings for Easter on page 1910, etc… but what is the “f”?
Click to expand...
It means page 1910 and what follows (like “ff”).
HOPEFUL_IN_UK said:
But… don’t I still have to figure out if it’s a memorial or a solemnity or whatever? That’s what I’m afraid of. It’s allllll gibberish to me. :o
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Do you mean figuring out what the day is, or how to arrange the office according to the day?
 
Actually, since you’re in the UK, do you by any chance have a copy of “Daily Prayer”?
 
I’m in the same boat as the OP.

With the example he posted for MP I’d read The Invitatory to just before the Reading starting at 824. Then the reading until the end from 466. Is that correct?

Also, when does one read the OOR?

I typically read MP, EP and ocasionally NP.

Thanks in advance.
 
AJV said:
Actually, since you’re in the UK, do you by any chance have a copy of “Daily Prayer”?
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No. I’m American, so the book I have was bought in the USA. And, since I’m doing it privately, it doesn’t matter if I have the American version or the one approved for use in the UK. There are more online resources for the American book, so that’s what I’m going to stick with.

I just bought a new copy of Christian Prayer, as the one I have is pretty much falling apart (it was *very *used!). And, I’m thinking my husband may want to pray along with me, sometime.
 
HOPEFUL_IN_UK said:
No. I’m American, so the book I have was bought in the USA. And, since I’m doing it privately, it doesn’t matter if I have the American version or the one approved for use in the UK. There are more online resources for the American book, so that’s what I’m going to stick with.

I just bought a new copy of Christian Prayer, as the one I have is pretty much falling apart (it was *very *used!). And, I’m thinking my husband may want to pray along with me, sometime.
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Oh, I was just asking because I’m more familiar with the layout of Daily Prayer…it’s what I use.
 
whizkid43 said:
I’m in the same boat as the OP.

With the example he posted for MP I’d read The Invitatory to just before the Reading starting at 824. Then the reading until the end from 466. Is that correct?

Also, when does one read the OOR?

I typically read MP, EP and ocasionally NP.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Look at that first link I posted… that has a LOT of info on it. Just read a bunch and see if you can match up what is going on with your copy of the book. That’s where I’m at, now… just trying to get some practice.

One thing that link with page numbers doesn’t do is tell you to start with the ORDINARY of the prayer you’re doing. The Ordinary is the stuff that is said every time, the framework of that office. The Ordinary starts on page 686. Go through it slowly - don’t worry about being smooth. God will understand that you’ll be flipping back and forth. 🙂

The Ordinary starts, on page 686, by telling you the “Invitatory.” The Invitatory is the beginning part of the prayer that you pray THE FIRST TIME YOU DO ONE OF THE HOURS that day. In other words, if you do Morning Prayer, then you start with the Invitatory. But, if you later do Evening Prayer, you don’t do the Invitatory. It’s just the way to start the first prayer you do that day. If all you do is Evening Prayer, then you do start with the Invitatory. Just read it carefully and you’ll see it goes by pretty quick.

Then, you see the Ordinary - the framework - for Morning Prayer. The page numbers (825, 466, etc) are where you go to find the specific things to flesh out that framework. So, follow the Ordinary, read the red print carefully, take your time, and use the page numbers to know where to find the stuff that is in the “Proper of the Seasons” etc.

The Office of Readings can be done at any time of day, as you choose, if you feel like it. I have now figured out that you follow to the page number from the St. Francis de Sales guide and then pick whatever reading you like in that section.

Was all that clear as mud? 😛
 
AJV said:
Oh, I was just asking because I’m more familiar with the layout of Daily Prayer…it’s what I use.
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I hear the language is much nicer. But… are there the online resources for it? So much Catholic stuff is American, ya know?
 
Just jumping in here with a drive-by post to say - remember, it’s prayer. When you first start out don’t worry about the rubrics, the flipping and what to pray when. Just pray the Hours as best you can…a friend told me a quote by a saint whose name neither of us remember: “pray well if you can, otherwise pray badly like the rest of us”

I have been praying the LOTH for 10 years and for the first 2 years I didn’t pray a single feast or memorial properly, but after that amount of time I was comfortable enough with the rhythm to begin with the flipping back and forth (I started with the 1-volume Christian Prayer and 6 years ago graduated to the 4-volume). (I now pray the Byzantine Hours about 60 - 80% of the time, as I have translated to the Eastern Church)

And I pray daily, in my intercessions, for anyone who is learning to pray this wonderful prayer of the Church.
 
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