Daily scripture/meditation sources

[Maryval]

I am very interested in hearing others’ reviews of Catholic daily scripture/meditation sources. What do you prefer and why? I am most interested in your descriptions and comments on the following:

Magnificat
Divine Intimacy
Living with Christ
In Conversation with God
God’s Word Today
The Word Among Us
Daily Living
Divine Office/Litugy of the Hours

I am very hungry for something like this, and prefer daily mass readings with commentary. I am a librarian guess I am more or less doing a “review of the literature” in this area. Thank you so very much for your (name removed by moderator)ut.

“May the Lord bless you and keep you,”
Maryval

 

[kmktexas]

I love the Magnificat magazine. It includes all of the readings from Mass as well as other readings to include in your day. It also has writings from others such as Church Fathers, Contemporary (meaning still alive, not modernist) Catholic writers and the writings of various Saints and Blesseds. It has hymns for each day which I just read since I don’t usually know the tune.

I also have Conversations With God. It has really good reflections with lots of references. They are all written by the same person though and he heavily quotes St. Escriva. While he refers to the daily readings, they aren’t included so you would need Missal/Bible to refer to while or before reading the day’s entry.

I can’t comment with any first hand knowledge of the ones you listed but I will keep an eye on this thread since I would love reccomendations to add to my collection.

 

[space_ghost]

i’m just a simple advocate of the Rosary (as far as daily prayer goes)… i should do more when it comes to prayer…

 

[DBT]

I used Divine Intimacy for about a year and enjoyed it very much because of its Carmelite spirituality. Sometimes, though, I had a hard time finding the right day. I seem to recall the calendar it used is not what is used now.

Since then I’ve been praying Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours and recommend it highly.

 

[Marauder]

I can comment on “The Word Among Us” and the Liturgy of the Hours.

The Word Among Us is a pretty good, but it tends to be a little “too easy” for some people. Great for using in a family setting with young kids, people with varying degrees of education, or if you just want a easy to read devotional.

The Liturgy of the Hours is a great prayer and devotional. I got a much better understanding of scripture when I was able to pray the full liturgy including office. It does require a little time and devotion but as a Lay person you are never obligated to always pray it. I miss praying office, but my 4 month old can be a little demanding.

 

[baltobetsy]

I’m also a fan of Magnificat and In Conversation With God. I love to pray the psalms, and Magnificat is an orderly way to do that every day. * In Conversation * is very rich.

I also want to add an online resource for those who would like to receive each day’s readings with commentary from the Navarre Bible. You can subscribe to this service here.

Betsy

 

[Fidelis]

Magnificat is wonderful, but it is a little bit out of my price range, so I’ve never subscribed, I would if I could, though.

I have subscribed to God’s Word Today. It is an excellent resource for those who want to get more familiar with the Bible, as it takes on a particular book of Scripture or theme a month.

I also subscribed to The Word Among Us for many years and enjoyed it. After a while, though, it seemed to me to be geared more toward women (I’m a man, BTW) and I enjoyed it less. When I got to the point of noticing that the word “empowered” appeared in almost every meditation, I decided to move on.

I’ve also subscribed to a very good weekly medition called Share The Word, which is geared toward groups. Presently, I am using the daily meditation booklet put out by Presentation Ministries.

 

[Maryval]

Thank you for all your replies so far. This info. is so very helpful. For those of you who pray the daily office, do you use a one-volume book or a three-volume set? I’ve heard that there are both and haven’t had a chance to examine them. And is there such a thing as a magazine-type publication that pulls together these daily prayers? (Something that I can carry around in my purse?)

I can share some of the other sources I’ve discovered.
I’ve been receiving Living with Christ for a year. It is a mini-missalette, with weekly commentary and discussion about saints on their days. It’s great to carry to daily mass.

I also found two other online sources:
www.regnumchrist.org
www.rc.net

Regnum Christi’s daily reading is from the NAB and has commentary from various authors. Rc.net has God’s Word Today and takes it’s readings from the NRSV, with commentary by the same writer every day ('can’t remember his name but he has wonderful insights).

Thanks again and bless you all for your replies (keep 'em coming).

 

[Marauder]

Maryval:

Thank you for all your replies so far. This info. is so very helpful. For those of you who pray the daily office, do you use a one-volume book or a three-volume set? I’ve heard that there are both and haven’t had a chance to examine them. And is there such a thing as a magazine-type publication that pulls together these daily prayers? (Something that I can carry around in my purse?)

Actually the Liturgy of the Hours with office is a four-volume set. One for Advent/Christmas, one for Lent/Easter, two for Ordinary Time.

It’s my understanding that the “Christian Prayer” version of office only has the Bible reading of Office. In the 4 volume set, office contains both a Bible reading and a reading from different Saints and Church Fathers. I personally never used “Christian Prayer” so I can’t verify it. I started with “Shorter Christian Prayer” and moved to the 4 volume set.

There are online versions of the Liturgy of the Hours that you can print out every day and place in your purse. I personally take the current volume of the 4 volume set with me to work and use that.

 

[DBT]

Christian Prayer (one volume) is complete for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. It doesn’t have the Office Of Readings and I believe Daytime and Nightime Prayer is a stripped down version. I use Christian Prayer and have found it works very well for me. I would also recommend getting the little printed pamphlet guide that goes with it. There’s a lot of page flipping in Christian Prayer and following things would be very tough without the pamphlet.

Also, this is a very good on-line source:

www.liturgyhours.org

Make sure you use the “Personal Prayer” and “Display” options.

 

[AnnieD]

Welcome to the forum, Maryval. I use the Magnificat and it is Excellent! It is a magazine and you can put it in your purse and take it to mass every day. You can get the information on how to subscribe to it at magnificat.com I hope that is the address, if not let me know.

I like “In Conversation With God” and use it every morning. It helps explain each days Gospel.

A group of women and I are trying to get a Carmelite group started in our town, I have also been reading “Divine Intimacy.” As someone mentioned, it is hard to find the correct days. I did notice that it also comes in 4 or more volumes also, like the Liturgy of the Hours and would be easier to find the correct days using it.

I also use “The Liturgy Of The Hours” and have the 4 volume set.
Another good resource is “The School Of Prayer” which gives explanations for all of the Psalms in Morning and Evening Prayer in the Liturgy Of The Hours for each day.


Annie