Do you pray the Liturgy of the Hours?

  • Thread starter Thread starter penitentman22
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
40.png
penitentman22:
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!
Click to expand...
That’s the one I use, too. I only do the Morning and Evening prayers, though. When I started (a little under 3 years ago), I only said the Morning prayers, then I added the Evening prayers and then the Night prayers

Right now, with two gd’s and their mother living with us, it has become a little to hectic to do all three, so I dropped the Night prayers for now. I plan to go back to them when things settle down a bit.

John
 
This year I plan on buying the single edition Christian Prayer, the thick red one.

People seem to be speaking very favorably and I hope to add it to my prayer life. 🙂
 
40.png
raphaela:
ok so what is the liturgy of the hours??? how do i do it?
Click to expand...
Good evening, Raphaela:

The Liturgy of the Hours are a series of hymns, psalms, short prayers, and readings that are designed to be said at certain hours of the day.

Their modern names are: The Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Mid Morning Prayer, Mid Day Prayer, Mid Afternoon Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. Prior to the reforms of teh Second Vatican Council, the old names were Matins, Prime, Tierce, Sext, Nones, Lauds, and Compline. I think that’s right.

Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer are the “hinge prayers”. Morning Prayer starts your day off with praise to God; Evening Prayer closes your day with thanksgiving.

It can be very elaborate, if you say all the prayers and use the 4 volume edition; it can be very simple, if you follow one of the smaller, one-volume editions.

The basic structure is to start with a short introductory invocation. O God, come to my assistance, O Lord, make haste to help me. then the Glory Be prayer. Then there is a short hymn. Then three psalms, wiht an antiphon before and after, and the Glory Be prayer right after each psalm. Then there would be a short Bible reading, followed by a couple short invocations. Next would be the Canticle of Zecharaiah (if it’s Morning Prayer) or the Magnificat (if it’s Evening Prayer). Then there are a series of intercessory prayers and a closing prayer.

the three “little hours” of mid day, mid morning, and mid afternoon prayer, are much less elaborate. the Office of Readings has three psalms at the beginning, but instead of everything else that the Morning and Evening prayers have, there are two longer readings. One from the Bible, and one from another source, usually patristic or some other non biblical author.

Compline, or Night Prayer is shorter, and includes an opportunity to reflect on the day’s events.

If you used the 4 volume edition and said all the Offices, you would go through the entire book of psalms every month. I find the devotional practice, which goes back to the second century at least in various forms, to be wonderful.
 
Glory to Jesus Christ!

After having experienced it, I have truly loved the Liturgy of the Hours, I pray the Liturgy of the Hours at home when I can. I have done this regularly for four years. Believe me when I say I am not the man I used to be, it has changed my life.

Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer would be my standard fare. This devotion had the effect of drawing me into a deeper spirituality and I credit it with finally giving me that push I needed to get out of my shell and go visit a monastery.

Now I can say that I am a Benedictine Oblate candidate, soon too be a regular Oblate, God willing!

And I finally persued a lifelong curiosity about the church’s eastern lung: Eastern Catholicism, partly inspired by many of the readings derived from the Church Fathers I came across in the LOTH. I found a parish I love, and I am soon to be transfered to the Byzantine Catholic church, thanks be to God.

All these joys I credit to my praying of the Hours. I now go to the Abbey when possible to pray with the monks, and I go to my Byzantine parish for Matins and Vespers when possible (the Byzantine version is a little different from the Roman and we call it Divine Praises, and is easier to do in a group setting than alone).

I would recommend the Liturgy of the Hours to anyone, after the Divine Liturgy the Liturgy of the Hours is the church’s preeminent prayer! 👍

In Christ,
Michael 🙂
 
40.png
Angelica:
This year I plan on buying the single edition Christian Prayer, the thick red one.

People seem to be speaking very favorably and I hope to add it to my prayer life. 🙂
Click to expand...
Hello Angelica!

I have found that book to be more than sufficient. I have two books from the four volume set ( #I & # II for Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter) but I get far greater use of the one volume Christian Prayer, which I use throughout Ordinary time and often during the Christmas and Easter Seasons.

I think you will find the one volume Christian Prayer a wise choice.

Ni Carius Christo
Michael
 
40.png
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?
Click to expand...
You don’t need a book. The liturgy is on line.
 
Michael,

Thank you for your “yes” to God’s will for you and the sacrifices you are making for the good of the Church. May you be blessed all your days, may God gift you with all the graces you need to fulfill your special voaction and may Mary, the Mother of all vocations, provide you with rich spiritual nurishment all the days of your life. Praise God in all His Holy places.

Peace and all good,

Thomas2
 
I use the one volume Book of Christian Prayer. I really like this one because it is very easy to travel with and you do not have to remember to bring the right one, because it is the only one. I had a friend who had the four volume version and she was going on a trip which happened to fall at the time that she had to switch books, so she had to take two volumes of the four with her on her trip. I keep the one volume on my night stand and say it right when I get up in the morning and then right before I go to bed. Joe
 
[historical note]
40.png
Dunmoose:
Good evening, Raphaela:

The Liturgy of the Hours are a series of hymns, psalms, short prayers, and readings that are designed to be said at certain hours of the day.

Their modern names are: The Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Mid Morning Prayer, Mid Day Prayer, Mid Afternoon Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. Prior to the reforms of teh Second Vatican Council, the old names were Matins, Prime, Tierce, Sext, Nones, Lauds, and Compline. I think that’s right.
Click to expand...
Matins (equivalent to the modern Invitatory, I think) was usually said together with Lauds. Between Nones and Compline would be Vespers.
 
40.png
Dunmoose:
There are many ways to say the Hours…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.
Click to expand...
Perhaps when updating your page, you might consider removing the suggestion that alternative readings may be taken from the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada and the Upanishads.
 
I’m new to the faith and have only prayed the Liturgy of the Hour once, but LOVED IT! We did this at the conclusion of daily mass. How do I go about doing this prayer at home? How do I obtain this prayer? Is it different for every day of the week?

Sorry so many questions,still learning 🙂
 
**Thank you for your thoughtful post on the LOTH. **
**I do love the LOTH, but have problems being faithful to it. I need to be more disciplined, I think. **
**I first heard of the LOTH while a graduate student at the Athenaeum of Ohio. The first book I had was Shorter Christian Prayer. Now I have two volumes of the larger Christian Prayer (one Daughters of St. Paul),and one in large print from the Catholic Book Publishing Company. I do not always remember to do the Hours, but when I do, I am thrilled with the idea of participating with the whole Church in ceaseless prayer. **
 
YES I DO EVERYDAY AND LOVE IT. I WOULD HIGHLY

RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE.

IT IS A LITTLE CONFUSING AT FIRST, BUT STICK WITH IT
AND YOU WILL GET THE HANG OF IT AND LOVE IT TOO.

GOD BLESS!:blessyou:
 
To All,

I want to say thank you to all whol have posted about and praised the LOTH. I prayed the Hours for years (as regularly as I could), but fell out of the habit nearly three years ago…I had just begun to pray the LOTH again, when this thread “happened”…It has inspired me to remain faithful to this beautiful way of prayer. Knowing that it is second only to the Mass, and that someone, somewhere is praying the same psalms and prayers is a real boon and encouragement.
 
40.png
dantheman:
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
Click to expand...
I have a copy of this book, as well as the large print Christian Prayer, put out by the Catholic Book Pub. Company. I also have a Shorter Prayer.
I do like the Daughters of St. Paul volume a lot…Just wish it came in large print!
 
40.png
Deacon2006:
Our parish prays the hours before weekday masses.
Click to expand...
WOW! I’m curious how many other parishes do this. During Holy Week this year we did Morning Prayer before mass, but that’s the only time I can recall our parish ever praying any of the hours as a community. I’ve prayed MP and EP from Christian Prayer for about a year now, but it was nice to do it with the parish. One of the benefits . . . I learned I was doing a few things wrong!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top