Do you say the psalm prayers after each psalm in the Liturgy of the Hours?

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I am new to praying the Divine Office. I have been reading aloud each “Psalm Prayer” after the psalms in Morning and Evening Prayer.

Recently I happened to pray Evening Prayer at a parish where these “Psalm Prayers” were omitted. When I asked why these weren’t said, I was told that these prayers are not present in the breviaries of other English-speaking countries, so reciting them subtracts from the universality of the Office. Is there an authoritative norm about this?
 
My understanding is that the “psalm prayers” are not found in the original Latin edition produced by the Church, but were composed by the ICEL translators who produced the English version, the same ICEL whose lackluster translation of the Latin prayers of the Mass led the Holy Father to remove them from having a role in the latest English translation of the Mass.

Thus, they are optional as far as I know. Some of them are very nice, but I stopped using them altogether after too many of them read like left-wing political ads.
 
medicalmatins said:
I am new to praying the Divine Office. I have been reading aloud each “Psalm Prayer” after the psalms in Morning and Evening Prayer.

Recently I happened to pray Evening Prayer at a parish where these “Psalm Prayers” were omitted. When I asked why these weren’t said, I was told that these prayers are not present in the breviaries of other English-speaking countries, so reciting them subtracts from the universality of the Office. Is there an authoritative norm about this?
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You can say them if you want, but there’s no obligation to. I’m personally not a fan of them, since as far as I remember, they were added in the “translation” process (just like “Christ has died” was).
 
Rich_C said:
My understanding is that the “psalm prayers” are not found in the original Latin edition produced by the Church, but were composed by the ICEL translators who produced the English version, the same ICEL whose lackluster translation of the Latin prayers of the Mass led the Holy Father to remove them from having a role in the latest English translation of the Mass.

Thus, they are optional as far as I know. Some of them are very nice, but I stopped using them altogether after too many of them read like left-wing political ads.
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This is not entirely true. I have a French language monastic breviary that has them. However they are not in the French Roman Office. They were in fact composed by the commission that produced the current LOTH. They are neither universally used nor loved and they are entirely optional. Most seem to omit them as I do.
 
My understanding is that they are optional. You can pray them or not, as you prefer.
 
I also have the new African Breviary, Christian Prayer, the smaller green book which is the equivalent to Shorter Christian Prayer. That one does have the Psalms Prayers but in italics which distinguishes them from the Psalm text and visually associates them with the parts that are not read aloud.
 
Rich_C said:
Thus, they are optional as far as I know. Some of them are very nice, but I stopped using them altogether after too many of them read like left-wing political ads.
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I omit them when I use the LOTH for the same reason as above. 🙂
 
Rich_C said:
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Thus, they are optional as far as I know. Some of them are very nice, but I stopped using them altogether after too many of them read like left-wing political ads.
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Agreed.

They were added in the English translation. I have heard that they got into several languages because they were translated from the English rather than from the original.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Agreed.

They were added in the English translation. I have heard that they got into several languages because they were translated from the English rather than from the original.
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They exist as a supplement in Latin. They were not “added” in the English version, but come from the same commission that produced the LOTH.
 
Thank you for all the helpful replies. I wanted to take care before changing my recitation of the prayer of the Church, because of the virtue of obedience. I appreciate the new information, especially about the prayers’ origins and status in the Latin and other language breviaries. Now all I have to discern is whether praying them increase my devotion!
 
I would like the reference for the psalm prayers existing in a Latin supplement. I read years ago that they were additions put in by ICEL. I use the British “Morning and Evening Prayer” from the Divine Office, and it does not have the psalm prayers. That, and the fact that the scriptures are not taken from the New American Bible is the reason that I chose the British edition when I bought it in 1998. As a layperson I have a choice.
 
Wikipedia was the most available reference, but I think others will confirm it. Scroll down about 80% of the way to **Liturgy of the Hours (ICEL translation). **
Liturgy of the Hours (ICEL translation)
The Liturgy of the Hours, produced by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), was first published in 1975 by Catholic Book Publishing Company in the USA. This edition is the official English edition for use in the USA, Canada and some other English-speaking dioceses. It is in four volumes, an arrangement identical to the original Latin typical edition.
The psalms are taken (slightly adapted) from the 1963 Grail Psalms, while the Scripture readings and non-Gospel canticles are taken from the New American Bible. The prayers and intercessions are translated by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). The ELLC versions are used for items such as the Gospel canticles. An additional feature are psalm prayers, which were ICEL’s original compositions, attached to the psalms.
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No citation at all is given for the whole paragraph or section, so I question the reliability of these assertions on Wikipedia and where they came from.
 
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