Divine Office and Full Participation

[luke2219]

I’m in a lay community that prays Morning Prayer every morning. We have a member who does not pray the office out loud with us. He participates by praying silently while listening to us. He doesn’t read along, but prays along while we recite it.

As a community we feel it is best that everyone participate fully since this is a community prayer.

But this is causing a lot of grief in the community especially for the member.

He does participate and doesn’t understand why we insist that he say the prayers out-loud. After all, we don’t all say the Rosary out-loud when we pray together. And at mass we still fully participate as long as we pray even though we don’t (and shouldn’t) say all the parts out-loud (those reserved for the priest to say.)

So there is precedent for full participation not requiring vocal prayer.

It seems though that in the case of the Liturgy of the Hours and its community aspect that it does require saying the prayers out loud to constitute full participation.

What I would love to find is a document or other published material that gives evidence that someone can fully participate in the Liturgy of the Hours in community without praying out loud. I don’t think anything like that exists, but I want to be sure that we are on firm ground before pressing this issue further.

I want to be wrong in this and placate the situation by letting the member pray silently as he wishes in peace. But I’m afraid that we are right and he will need to pray out-loud to fully participate in our community life.

Thanks for your help. I appreciate your thoughts, but keep in mind that what I really need is some sort of documentation. Not necessarily “official” official, but something with some sort of authority.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I took a look at the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours (this is a link to the whole document).

It says in paragraph 22…

22. Hence, when the people are invited to the liturgy of the hours and come together in unity of heart and voice, they show forth the Church in its celebration of the mystery of Christ

If you notice, it says “come together in unity of heart and voice”.

You can not compare the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, as you do, with the Rosary (as that is a private devotion that is done in common) or the Mass (which has parts assigned specifically).

Also paragraph 122…

122. The psalms are sung or said in one of three ways, according to the different usages established in tradition or experience: directly (in diredum), that is, all sing the entire psalm, or antiphonally, that is, two choirs or sections of the congregation sing alternate verses or strophes, or responsorially.

Note that this says the psalms are to be sung or said but then it goes on with just using the word “sing” but by the usage I think we may substitute said. So either all say the psalm together or it is said in alternate verses or strophes.

Hope this helps.

 

[Cluny]

The Divine Office is supposed to be a vocal, choral (technical sense here) prayer that is ideally chanted and sung as much as possible.

Could it be that this person has vision problems?

FWIW, in the Melkite use for Vespers in parishes, the congregation sings the unchangeable parts, and the cantors alone sing the propers.

 

[luke2219]

Br. David, Thanks that is what I suspected. I’m still hoping there might be another way.

Cluny, No. He’s completely physically capable of praying along out-loud.

 

[nodito]

Have you asked him why he prefers to pray silently?

 

[luke2219]

Yes. He says he gets more out of it that way. But in this case, we think that is better suited for his private prayer. Since this is a communal prayer, it was what is best for the community, not an individual member.