Are the hymns optional in the LOH?

[HillbillyHermit]

I’ve found quite a few results saying that they are optional (posts here at the CAF forums among them) but can’t find anything in the General Instructions stating so. Is there some other document that says this?

 

[OraLabora]

As you note there’s nothing in the General Instructions to suggest that they are optional, whereas other elements that are optional are clearly indicated.

I therefore conclude that they’re not optional.

 

[Russ_of_Tokyo]

Last night I read this very thing that the hymn was optional, so this morning I decided to just glance over the hymn instead of actually reading it (but felt a little unsettled about doing it this way). Immediately afterwards, I get on the internet and find this thread.

Hmmm, amazing timing. I get the message loud and clear

 

[HillbillyHermit]

As you note there’s nothing in the General Instructions to suggest that they are optional, whereas other elements that are optional are clearly indicated.

I therefore conclude that they’re not optional.

I didn’t think they were optional, but it seemed like everything I read about it said that they were, but with nothing to verify it. I’ve been known to miss something right in front of my face, so thought it best to ask, just in case. Thanks.
Russ of Tokyo:

Last night I read this very thing that the hymn was optional, so this morning I decided to just glance over the hymn instead of actually reading it (but felt a little unsettled about doing it this way). Immediately afterwards, I get on the internet and find this thread.

Hmmm, amazing timing. I get the message loud and clear

Great minds think alike?

Nah, maybe your mind is great, mine’s more like a rusted trap.:doh2:

 

[Evan]

I’ve found quite a few results saying that they are optional (posts here at the CAF forums among them) but can’t find anything in the General Instructions stating so. Is there some other document that says this?

Perhaps what is meant is that the specified hymns are optional. A hymn may be required, but not the hymn given in the office. The GILH says an appropriate hymn. So you can choose another. In fact I have seen some recommendation that a poem could be recited instead (I don’t know if this is acceptable, but if you don’t know the melody and recite a hymn it is the same as reciting a poem).

 

[HillbillyHermit]

Perhaps what is meant is that the specified hymns are optional. A hymn may be required, but not the hymn given in the office. The GILH says an appropriate hymn. So you can choose another. In fact I have seen some recommendation that a poem could be recited instead (I don’t know if this is acceptable, but if you don’t know the melody and recite a hymn it is the same as reciting a poem).

Yeah, that could be it! I think I read somewhere about that too in the instructions. There’s an index/list of hymns for the seasons and ordinary time. For now I think I’ll just alternate the choices given and keep it simple, especially in the morning. Some days it takes a while before all cylinders are firing.

 

[triumphguy]

Now… when by oneself, should they be sung, or is reciting enough?

 

[porthos11]

No matter where you look, you will not find anything that even hints that hymns are optional, and you will always find the positive rubric that states that the hymn is to be said. So no, the hymns are not optional.

However, there are variations that are permitted:

1. One my substitute a hymn with another from the same season for the same hour (e.g. for any given Morning Prayer, you can select a hymn from Morning Prayer of another day in Ordinary Time). I exercise this option every Tuesday Morning Prayer on Weeks I and III in Ordinary Time.
2. If you don’t know the given tune, you can sing the hymn to another tune of the same meter.
3. Or you can simply recite the hymn if you don’t know any tune or don’t want to sing.

But in any case, the hymn must be said or sung.

 

[andrewstx]

Considering the fact that the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are hymns they are not optional in the LOH.

If you are alone and not a singer, you can merely recite them.

 

[porthos11]

Considering the fact that the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are hymns they are not optional in the LOH.

If you are alone and not a singer, you can merely recite them.

Strictly speaking, the Benedictus, Magnificat and Nunc dimittis are Canticles. The Te Deum is a hymn. But from the context of the OP, I believe he was referring to the Hymn that opens each Hour.

 

[OraLabora]

Now… when by oneself, should they be sung, or is reciting enough?

I chant them from the Liber Hymnarius; sometimes for some of the more complex melodies I will substitute a simpler one of the same meter.

You can also recite them, or chant them recto-tono.

 

[HillbillyHermit]

Reciting them is the way to go for me. I can appreciate the musicality of the lyrics when praying them, but it would take singing lessons from an instructor with the patience of a Saint to get me to carry a tune in a bucket. Not to mention allergies that makes even talking a challenge some days. 'Tis why praying silently is the norm. Besides all this, I’m actually glad they are not optional. Praising God through Psalms and hymns is a great way to start the day. Really puts things into perspective, and the other hours helps keep it that way.

 

[Russ_of_Tokyo]

The times I’ve attempted to quietly sing the hymns, my wife complained of “strange noises” coming from the room, so that leaves me the option of reciting.

I guess I could try recto-tono but it might completely unnerve her – and the neighbors. Somebody might call the police.

 

[HillbillyHermit]

I’ve already pushed the patience of others far enough the past few years while learning to play the Irish whistle. I might have to really become a hermit if singing is added to that.

 

[triumphguy]

Actually, if you are not required by canon law to recite the office then you can pick and choose which psalms, prayers, hymns etc., to say/sing or not.

 

[OraLabora]

Actually, if you are not required by canon law to recite the office then you can pick and choose which psalms, prayers, hymns etc., to say/sing or not.

Well yes and no. Only within the limits of what the General Instructions allow, if you are to pray liturgically. The LOTH is the public prayer of the Church regardless of whether said in public, or in private, by religious, clergy or laity:

1. Those who pray the psalms in the liturgy of the hours do so not so much in their own name as in the name of the entire Body of Christ. This consideration does away with the problem of a possible discrepancy between personal feelings and the sentiments a psalm is expressing: for example, when a person feels sad and the psalm is one of joy or when a person feels happy and the psalm is one of mourning. Such a problem is readily solved in private prayer, which allows for the choice of a psalm suited to personal feelings. The divine office, however, is not private; the cycle of psalms is public, in the name of the Church, even for those who may be reciting an hour alone. Those who pray the psalms in the name of the Church nevertheless can always find a reason for joy or sadness, for the saying of the Apostle applies in this case also: “Rejoice with the joyful and weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15). In this way human frailty, wounded by self-love, is healed in proportion to the love that makes the heart match the voice that prays the psalms.

Therefore to pray for and with the Church, one needs to stick to approved texts. That said, the LOTH does have considerable built-in flexibility. Among them, the ability to combine Offices (for example you can combine the Office of Readings with Lauds), and the ability to chose psalms/hymns within certain parameters:

1. Everyone should be concerned to respect the complete cycle of the four-week psalter. [7] Still, for spiritual or pastoral advantage, the psalms appointed for a particular day may be replaced with others from the same hour of a different day. There are also circumstances occasionally arising when it is permissible to choose suitable psalms and other texts in the way done for a votive office.

and

1. The readings, prayers, songs, and intercessions appointed for the weekdays of a particular season may be used on other weekdays of the same season.

(all quotes from the General Instructions).

These are just some examples, there are other options as well. The main point is that even when done privately (and by laity) it is the public prayer of the Church and therefore there are boundaries to respect (at the risk of sounding like a liturgical legalist, however the “rules” as noted allow for considerable flexibility!)

 

[Russ_of_Tokyo]

1. Everyone should be concerned to respect the complete cycle of the four-week psalter. [7] Still, for spiritual or pastoral advantage, the psalms appointed for a particular day may be replaced with others from the same hour of a different day. There are also circumstances occasionally arising when it is permissible to choose suitable psalms and other texts in the way done for a votive office.

This is of particular interest to me. I confess I am always a bit miffed when a special day comes around and I am required to go back and repeat the first Sunday’s Psalms instead of the Psalms listed for that particular day in the four-week Psalter. I would much prefer to continue in the sequence of Psalms and cover them all in four weeks because I want the spiritual benefit of praying ALL the Psalms and keep it all as simple as possible.

Does this particular instruction allow me to do that?

Hmmm, I just remembered that all those who use Shorter Christian Prayer have no choice but to do exactly that since most of the “detours” are not printed there. I wonder If I could do the same even though I have the larger breviary?

 

[porthos11]

This is of particular interest to me. I confess I am always a bit miffed when a special day comes around and I am required to go back and repeat the first Sunday’s Psalms instead of the Psalms listed for that particular day in the four-week Psalter. I would much prefer to continue in the sequence of Psalms and cover them all in four weeks because I want the spiritual benefit of praying ALL the Psalms and keep it all as simple as possible.

Does this particular instruction allow me to do that?

Hmmm, I just remembered that all those who use Shorter Christian Prayer have no choice but to do exactly that since most of the “detours” are not printed there. I wonder If I could do the same even though I have the larger breviary?

I would say no. Sunday Week I (and the Common Psalms for Evening Prayer) are festive psalms and so should be used. You should use them because of the joyful character of the psalms. When you come across a Feast or Solemnity, use the detours. For Memorials, unless the Psalms are proper, you continue to use the weekday psalms anyway. It’s not often that we run into Feasts and Solemnities so that detours are not that bad at all.

The lack of detours are one reason I recommend against even starting with Shorter Christian Prayer. It was my first Office book and I quickly abandoned it for Christian Prayer.