Deleted Psalms in the new Liturgy of the Hours

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All psalter schemas for the various offices can be found here:

http://www.gregorianbooks.com/gregorian/www/www.kellerbook.com/SCHEMA~1.HTM

The monastic schemas can be found in the post-1970 section. You can also compare to the pre-Vatican II years higher up on the page. The Benedictine schema (largely also followed by the Carthusians) of pre-Conciliar days is known as “Schema A” today, with post-Conciliar adaptations (new liturgical year, collects, etc.). Some communities have retained Prime, others redistribute the psalms of Prime to other hours; the method I have encountered in a couple of monasteries, is to distribute the psalms of Prime to the other minor hours.

Note that in the monastic world, “Office of Readings” is still known as “Vigils” (or “Matins”).

For those following the recommendation of using the 4-week LOTH but dividing the Office of Readings into a two-week schema, there are no specifics given in the General Instructions. It’s left up to the individual communities how to redistribute the psalms. When I use that method, when I’m busier and want a shorter Office, I use the psalms of Week I as the first Nocturne in weeks I and III, and the psalms of Week III as the second Nocturne in those same two weeks. Then I do the same for weeks II and IV using the psalms of those weeks. Since psalm 43 is used on Thursdays in both weeks II and IV, for the second Nocturne I substitute psalm 43 with the imprecatory psalms deleted from the LOTH: 57 and 82 (both relatively short psalms) in Week II, and psalm 108 (the longer of the three) in week IV. I just keep my monastic breviary handy on those days.

I also use the two-year monastic lectionary except when traveling, for Vigils/Office of Readings. When I travel I bring my 4-week/4-volume LOTH and pray the Office of Readings directly from that, to minimize the number of books. I try to catch up on the monastic readings in spare time, and I often simply read the LOTH readings outside the liturgy. Following the prescriptions of the Rule of Saint Benedict and as done at my abbey, in summer, I use a short reading instead of a patristic reading for the second reading (for us, “summer” is defined as the Monday following the Octave of Easter up to and including the 14th of September, feast of the Cross).

I do Lauds and Vespers in Latin Gregorian chant; the other hours in French plainchant.
 
I have a book from 1947 that has the Bea Psalter, but in English. It goes through all 150 psalms in 1 week. When I come across those psalms, I put it in a spiritual or historical perspective. I could see the phrase, “smash your little ones against the rock.” as a way to get rid of the small venial sins before they become mortal sins or describing an order of King David as God had directed to kill some peoples to release His people from slavery. I see no problem with saying the deleted psalms. I am unaffected by the psalms so I guess I would give my approval by saying them.
 
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