Divine Office and Liturgy of the Hours

[phil8888]

Hello.

I am interested in increasing my spiritual life. I would like to attend daily mass, say a daily rosary, and also pray the prayers of the divine office. Does anyone know where I can purchase this? I’m not completely familiar with it. I believe it may be contained in the breviary.

If anyone knows where I might be able to purchase a breviary or divine office, especially online, I would be thankful. Also, perhaps it is possible to get a Bible and Book of Divine Office set.

Let me know.

Thanks,
Phil

 

[CoolRich59]

Phil, the Divine Office, the Breviary and the Liturgy of the Hours are synonymous.

You can get the books at most Catholic book stores.

More importantly, while your desire to say the “Office” is highly commendable, I would caution you to move forward prudently. There is an “art” to saying the Office and, until you get the hang of it, it can be quite frustrating.

There are a couple of very good threads about the “Office” here in the CA forums. I would encourage you to locate them and read them.

One very good suggestion you will see will be to start slowly. Don’t jump in and tell yourself that you are going to say the “Office of Readings”, “Morning Prayer”, and “Evening Prayer” on day one.

Assuming you are a lay person, you can start out by just saying all or even just a part of, for example, Morning Prayer. You can always build from there.

God bless,

 

[phil8888]

Phil, the Divine Office, the Breviary and the Liturgy of the Hours are synonymous.

You can get the books at most Catholic book stores.

More importantly, while your desire to say the “Office” is highly commendable, I would caution you to move forward prudently. There is an “art” to saying the Office and, until you get the hang of it, it can be quite frustrating.

There are a couple of very good threads about the “Office” here in the CA forums. I would encourage you to locate them and read them.

One very good suggestion you will see will be to start slowly. Don’t jump in and tell yourself that you are going to say the “Office of Readings”, “Morning Prayer”, and “Evening Prayer” on day one.

Assuming you are a lay person, you can start out by just saying all or even just a part of, for example, Morning Prayer. You can always build from there.

God bless,

Thanks for the information. I’m not too familiar with these prayers. How long would a particular prayer take to say, for example, the Sext.

 

[CoolRich59]

Sorry, I don’t know. The “major” Hours are the Office of Readings, Morning Prayer (Lauds) and Evening Prayer (Vespers). These are the Hours usually said by the laity. To my knowledge, it is religious orders (e.g., Carthusians) who say the rest of the Hours. (However, my knowledge is limited – I could be completely wrong )

However, the “major” Hours take between 15 - 30 minutes. Sext, which is a “minor” Hour, should be shorter.

Note: If you are interested in saying Sext, you will want to make sure the breviary you choose contains it – not all books contain all of the Hours.

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

It’s a good plan. If your really wanting to grow spiritually you will find it much easier with a good spiritual director. It can be a minefield on your own. God bless.

 

[pureDzire]

Hi…wanted to jump in and make a few suggestions for you, being you are new to the Divine Office. They DO sell books on How To Pray The Office and I really recommend you get one before you begin. It will help keep you on task and formulate a simple plan to begin your Prayers without too much confusion. The big confusion seems to be with the turning of pages back and forth when different feasts and memorials are celebrated, so a How To book keeps you repeatiing a Morning Office, let’s say, until you are comfortable with the format. Only then will it tell you to move on to another Hour, like Evening Prayer or something.

Morning and Evening Prayers are called the Hinges of the Office, so we usually start by learning them. Morning Prayer is what you say first thing in the morning when you rise…or, if you need a cup of coffee first, soon as you can after rising. Evening Prayer is anywhere from like 4pm to 7pm.

There is a One Volume or a 4 Volume Set for the Liturgy of the Hours. The One Volume is called Christian Prayer and it might be easier for you until you get the hang of it. It’s about $25 or so. You can look on line with Amazon.com for it, in case you can’t find it elsewhere. Hope this helps!

 

[JReducation]

You can purchase all of the guides that have been mentioned above and the Roman Breviary (4 volume) or the Christian Prayer (1 volume) at

stfrancisbookshop.com/

Be careful. There is also the Roman-Franciscan Breviary on this site. That one is for use by members of the Franciscan Orders. You may or may not want it. The difference is that it does not follow the calendar of the Church exactly. It inserts Franciscan memorials, feasts and solemnities on days where the Roman breviary does not or it may replace a memorial or feast of the Church with an equivalent Franciscan holy day.

But if you are into Franciscan spirituality, you may use it. There is also one for Carmelites, Benedictines, Dominicans and Augustinians.

This site also has the manual on how pray the Liturgy of the Hours that someone mentioned. I can’t remember what it’s called. But it’s like a Liturgy of the Hours for Dummies book. It walks you step by step through the rubrics.

I would also suggest that you purchase an extra set of ribbons. The breviaries don’t bring enough and as one of the posters said, you often have to flip back and forth between different sections when praying one of the hours.

Good luck.

Fraternally,

JR