Do you pray the Liturgy of the Hours?

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penitentman22

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I love the Liturgy of the Hours! I strongly encourage lay people to join in this liturgical prayer of th Church.
 
I am thinking about it, but I looked online and the books that they offer to help you with this cost about $120. I don’t think I can justify the expense. Is there a less costly way to do it?
 
I use the thick, red (one volume) Christian Prayer book. I think it was around $35. Also get the companion booklet for $1, it is extremely helpful!

God Bless!
 
The four volume costs 120 and has office of readings…which I highly recommend, and the 1 volume goes for about 40 and lacks the office of readings(nice to have) and some daytime prayer (not so important) and is way more confusing.

The Liturgy of the Hours is an awsome way to pray with the entire Church…every priest around the world promises to pray it faithfully. They don’t promise to say Mass everyday.
 
I found a website that has the liturgy of the hours. www.liturgyhours.org .

Can someone who prays the liturgy of the hours comment on the quality of the booklets that they have for personal prayer. Are they as good as the books you have?

Thanks!
 
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iguana27:
I found a website that has the liturgy of the hours. www.liturgyhours.org .

Can someone who prays the liturgy of the hours comment on the quality of the booklets that they have for personal prayer. Are they as good as the books you have?

Thanks!
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I just looked at today’s Office of Readings. It looks complete.

Of course, you’ll miss out on all the ribbon bookmarks, and flipping pages, etc.
 
There are many ways to say the Hours. A good place to start is universalis.com, which has most of the Hours available for you online. I also wrote a sort of one-stop-shopping guide to Liturgy of the Hours resources, which is located at dunstanboyko.tripod.com/loh.html . It is in need of updating, but it is pretty comprehensive. I also heartily recommend the practice.
 
For a single volume, I would recommend the one published by the Daughters of St Paul. It includes morning prayer, evening prayer, daytime prayer, nightime prayer, and a selection from the office of readings. I find it much easier to use than the one published by Catholic Book Publishing.

Here’s a link if you want to check it out:
www.pauline.org/store/liturgy_resourcebks.html
 
I use the single volume, Christian Prayer and the little guide that is published each year. Yes, I have the ribbons and flip the pages which really isn’t too much to handle. You get used to it. I think you’l find yourself being drawn deeper into the mystery of the Mass by using the prayers.

Peace and all good,

Thomas2

P.S. If you can manage the four volume set, get it.
 
I like the CBP one volume Christian Prayer. (Yow! I just realized my copy is 22 years old! I should buy it a drink!) I also have a slimmer volume of *Proper Offices of Franciscan Saints and Blessed * (I’m a sort of 3rd order Franciscan) in a neat cover that piggy-backs it with Christian Prayer. (Adding an extra set of ribbon markers makes it quite manageable)

Finally, I make use of Lauds and Vespers (Latin-English per annum) from Scepter Publishers – It’s only good for Ordinary Time, but even in other seasons and feast days, the psalter remains the same. 😉

If ever I would scrrape* together the spare $100+, I would buy the 4 volume Liturgia Horarum in Latin.

(* Intentional mispelling, to defeat the overzealous vulgarity filter that won’t let me spell s-c-r-a-p-e – Wish they would fix that)
 
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iguana27:
I am thinking about it, but I looked online and the books that they offer to help you with this cost about $120. I don’t think I can justify the expense. Is there a less costly way to do it?
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The set you have found is a complete one…It comes in four volumes, and yes, it is expensive.
**Many of us use a shorter version…It is called Christian Prayer, and can be bought in regular and large print…The Catholic Book Publishers and the Daughters of St. Paul both put out Christian Prayer. **
Many lay people use Shorter Christian Prayer, which is a much smaller volume published by the Catholic Book Publishing Co.
There is no need to spend that much money, unless you really want the entire thing…
 
At our parish the pastor bought the shorter version of Christian Prayer book it is only about 1 inch thick. Our parish prays the hours before weekday masses. It works quite well but during lent, easter and advent the prayers are different from the large volume or 4 volume books. I normally use the large 1 volume book when not at the parish.

EWTN has on their home page an audio version of the Hours for morning and evening prayer. The pray is meant to be spoken and heard so it helps me feel like I’m in choir when I am praying alone. :gopray2:

God Bless
 
I used to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, mostly Evening and Night, with the occasional Morning (when I had extra time) and Readings…

I loved the varity, how the prayers differed from day to day, yes there were things that repeated but there was a varity.

But then I decided to be fully Byzantine and I am still trying to find something that is as good as the LOTH. Right now the prayers are the same every day.
 
I do the morning and evening prayers provided in Magnificat magazine, and I found out that it is a shortened version of the Liturgy of the Hours.

It is interesting that you brought this subject up because I just learned this week that the Liturgy of the Hours is considered part of the public prayer of the church, along with the Mass and Penance. Then all the other prayers and devotions we use are private ones, subject to personal preference. So it seems that in our prayer choices we should choose the LOTH over the other stuff. Yes? No? Can anyone shed more light on this for me?
Thanks!
 
I like to pray the LOTH :gopray2: and also use www.liturgyhours.org. I was using universalis.com but read on www.catholicculture.org that that is an Anglican site. Anyway, I try to pray morning and Evening daily. Sometimes the daytime, but when should the Office of the readings be prayed? I had the one volume but never learned to use it and now I have no idea where it is.
 
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Deacon2006:
EWTN has on their home page an audio version of the Hours for morning and evening prayer. The pray is meant to be spoken and heard so it helps me feel like I’m in choir when I am praying alone. :gopray2:

God Bless
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Yes…the LOTH should be prayed aloud, and I guess some do it that way, even when along. I read it silently, when alone.

Thanks for the information about the LOTH being on EWTN. They used to do this on TV. I am glad to know it is on the website.
 
The liturgy of the hours is highly structured prayer that needs explanation for those who would like to start praying it. Lay persons are also highly recommended to pray the hours. For me, it takes place within the schedule of our house. It is always enjoyable, especially knowing that I am praying for the whole Church of God.
 
The Office of Readings can be said anytime after Night Prayer of the night before the day it is for, to Night Prayer of that day. I like to combine the Office of Readings with Morning Prayer to form one large office. In other words, to say all the psalms together, then the two readings, then the balance of Morning Prayer. But that is just me. Other people do things other ways 🙂
 
To help with some of the questions posted about the Litrugy of the Hours.
  1. Yes, it is second only to the Mass in order of importance within the Church. That means that as much devotion as you put into the Mass should also be given the Liturgy. (That is why I don’t prefer some of the “shortened” versions that are readily available in other forms such as Magnificat, The Little Office, etc. I don’t like truncated Masses, i.e. the “Golfer’s special” that is over in seventeen minutes flat or less, so why would I go for a “easier” version of the Liturgy of the Hours? To save me two or three minutes of prayer time? Sheesh - Eternity is LOOOOOONG time.)
  2. It is covered by Canon Law and has its own rubrics.
  3. It is meant to be vocal and can even be sung. The “Christian Prayer” has the music for the sung version in it. (I don’t know about the 4 Vol. set. I imagine that it does as well.)
  4. Certain lay organizations suggest praying the hours, like the Legion of Mary, etc…Most religious orders require some if not all of the Hours in their prayer life. Priests are required to pray the Hours by Canon Law.
  5. For those of us lay persons who say it on our own, by Canon Law it is only stated that we should try and say the Hour at the time that it is usually said by those who are required to say it, i.e. - Morning Prayer in the Morning before Mass, Evening Prayer in the evening, night prayer before bed, etc…
  6. As for following the liturgial norms that are counseled by the Church for the Liturgy of the Hours, if they are said as a group,(publicly) then all care should be taken to observe the rubrics just as you would for Mass. If said privately, then certain things may be omitted, i.e. standing at the Magnificat.
If a person is considering beginning the saying of these great prayers of the Church, then it would be wise to start out on the right foot. I’d suggest getting in touch with an order that has a house locally that is orthodox in their practices and ask if some there could begin teaching you to do this thing right. It is easier to learn from someone who can show you rather than trying to figure it out just from the book. I’d caution about learning from those who take short cuts - it is easier in the long run to learn how to do something right than to un-learn some bad habits later on.

Peace and all good,

Thomas2

P.S. I remember being truly fascinated when I first read about the Hours while I was on my way into the Church. I thought that it was totally awesome that no matter what hour of the day or night, someone somewhere on this planet was offering prayer and praise to God! This meant that ever since God gave the command to pray always without ceasing, the Church has responded and will until the end of time when the final Hour is sung by all. 👍
 
Has anyone heard anything about a possible retranslation of LOTH? I seem to remember hearing something about such a project awhile back, right after Liturgiam Authenticam was released.

Guess we’d have to spring for another $120-150 (not that it wouldn’t be worth it!)
 
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