Christian Prayer vs. LoTH

[Monkciate]

Is LoTH better than Christian Prayer? Which one should I use?

 

[DebChris]

Christian Prayer is the Liturgy of the Hours. It is used by various orders. It is how I was introduced to the Liturgy of Hours, praying while on retreat with the Marianists.The Liturgy of the Hours is also available in a 4 volume set. Because I do not have the 4 volume set, I lack the daily non-Scriptural readings for the Office of the Readings. Instead I substitute a book and read a chapter from it. I find I retain more of St. Therese’s Story of a Soul, for instance, by reading a little each day rather than simply reading these classics from cover to cover.

While in the States, I carried a Shorter Christian Prayer in my backpack, or in the glove compartment of my car (when I had a vehicle). The Shorter Christian Prayer only has Morning and Evening Prayer. When I am no longer working overseas, thereby no longer limited by travel weight, I might purchase the four volume set.

The advantage of Christian Prayer is its portability for those of us without a permanent residence.

 

[tee_eff_em]

*Better *is a subjective measure. *Better *in what way?

Like the advice often given in re bibles, the best prayer book(s) is the one(s) you will use. :twocents:

tee

 

[acadian]

Christian Prayer IS the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a one-volume version that does not contain everything in the 4 volume set, but is almost certainly satisfactory for the regular person.

Might I suggest, though, if you have never prayed Liturgy of the Hours before, that you start off with SHORTER Christian Prayer. It contains the Prayers for Morning, Evening and Night Prayers. It is SO much more user-friendly that the one volume Christian Prayer or the 4 volume set. It gets a little repetitive during “special” times of the year - the days following Easter and Christmas, for example, but for the rest of the time, it is wonderful. I have 2 copies of SCP. One by my bed, and one in my car/purse. I also have Christian Prayer, but have not spent much time with it yet, because SCP is so much easier to deal with.

My 2 cents.

 

[DebChris]

Christian Prayer IS the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a one-volume version that does not contain everything in the 4 volume set, but is almost certainly satisfactory for the regular person.

Might I suggest, though, if you have never prayed Liturgy of the Hours before, that you start off with SHORTER Christian Prayer. It contains the Prayers for Morning, Evening and Night Prayers. It is SO much more user-friendly that the one volume Christian Prayer or the 4 volume set. It gets a little repetitive during “special” times of the year - the days following Easter and Christmas, for example, but for the rest of the time, it is wonderful. I have 2 copies of SCP. One by my bed, and one in my car/purse. I also have Christian Prayer, but have not spent much time with it yet, because SCP is so much easier to deal with.

My 2 cents.

Having the Shorter Christian Prayer in my glove compartment or backpack meant I could still say the LOTH even when I was not home.

 

[KarenElissa]

Depends on what you plan on praying. I think Christian Prayer is a good compromise for me. I don’t, and wouldn’t, pray the Office of Readings, so I’m ok without that. I really like having all the seasonal stuff, so I don’t want Shorter Christian Prayer. So that puts me in the middle with Christian Prayer.

 

[Monkciate]

Might I suggest, though, if you have never prayed Liturgy of the Hours before, that you start off with SHORTER Christian Prayer. It contains the Prayers for Morning, Evening and Night Prayers. It is SO much more user-friendly that the one volume Christian Prayer or the 4 volume set. It gets a little repetitive during “special” times of the year - the days following Easter and Christmas, for example, but for the rest of the time, it is wonderful. I have 2 copies of SCP. One by my bed, and one in my car/purse. I also have Christian Prayer, but have not spent much time with it yet, because SCP is so much easier to deal with.

I already own Christian Prayer, so I guess the purpose for my question was to find out if there is any special reason for me to invest in the 4-volume set. The only thing I know which is different for the 4-volume set is that it includes the Office of Readings, though I wonder how much time I actually have to dedicate to something like that? So, the only real reason I would invest in the 4-volume set at this point is if the prayers are, perhaps, less repetitive, or whatever.

I’m also looking for covers if anyone knows where to find a nice cover with a zipper!

 

[KarenElissa]

I already own Christian Prayer, so I guess the purpose for my question was to find out if there is any special reason for me to invest in the 4-volume set. The only thing I know which is different for the 4-volume set is that it includes the Office of Readings, though I wonder how much time I actually have to dedicate to something like that? So, the only real reason I would invest in the 4-volume set at this point is if the prayers are, perhaps, less repetitive, or whatever.

I’m also looking for covers if anyone knows where to find a nice cover with a zipper!

From what I understand, the only difference between CP and the 4-volume set is the inclusion of the complete Office of Readings. Since you already have CP, I’d say try prying the short version of the OoR included with it and see how it goes. If you find you have time to pray in consisantly, then I’d consider the 4-volume set. Otherwise stick with Christian Prayer.

As for a cover, I’d look for “Bible Covers.” This one in the regular size would be about right. There are tons of various covers on Amazon of every size and color.

 

[tee_eff_em]

The only thing I know which is different for the 4-volume set is that it includes the Office of Readings, though I wonder how much time I actually have to dedicate to something like that?

From what I understand, the only difference between CP and the 4-volume set is the inclusion of the complete Office of Readings.

I think it depends on your edition of *Christian Prayer *-- The multi-volume Liturgy of the Hours also includes a 4-week Psalter of Daytime prayer, as does the DoSP edition of Christian Prayer, which the CBP edition does not.

tee

 

[DebChris]

Christian Prayer has a complimentary Psamody for Daytime prayer, but as Tee correctly points out, it does not have a 4 week psalter for daytime prayer. Christian Prayer has a weekly psalter for night prayer while shorter Christian Prayer has a single Night Prayer.
As much as we might like to pray the complete LOTH, most of us only have time for evening prayer and morning prayer. Few of us live in a monastery. I personally do not plan to buy the complete 4 volume set until I have a more permanent living situation, when finances are less of a concern, and I have more time for Daytime prayer. There are religious orders who use the single volume, moving directly into the Mass from Morning Prayer.
My common practice is to begin with the Office of the Readings, substituting a book I am reading for the non-scriptural reading. The scriptural reading can be found in the back of Christian Prayer. I then move into Morning Prayer which I end with the Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On a different thread, somebody posted the website where you can find the daily reading for the Office of Reading. I don’t generally pray the office in front of the computer.

 

[tee_eff_em]

To be fair:

Christian Prayer has a complimentary Psamody for Daytime prayer, but as Tee correctly points out, it does not have a 4 week psalter for daytime prayer.

The Liturgy of the Hours also includes the complementary psalmody for Daytime Prayer. The Psalter DP is used for one of the daytime hours (Mid-morning, Mid-day, Mid-afternoon), and the complementary psalmody for the other two, if they are prayed.

Christian Prayer has a weekly psalter for night prayer while shorter Christian Prayer has a single Night Prayer.

The Liturgy of the Hours specifies only a single week of Night Prayers. (ie, *Christian Prayer *is complete in this respect, while SCP is not)

tee