Family Prayer Using the Divine Office

[Nesrad]

Do any readers have experience using one form or another of the Divine Office in family prayer?

 

[Victor2211]

Do you have small children in your family that you are including in the prayer? If so, try Magnificat Magazine. It is a monthly publication. They have a shortened version of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer for each day of the week. It should be short enough to keep a small child’s attention, yet still long enough to introduce you and the family to the Liturgy of the Hours. I use Magnificat magazine for prayer; however, I am also teaching myself the Hours by praying Morning and Evening Prayer from the one-volume book called “Christian Prayer.” There’s a wonderful tutorial available for free at this website (prayer.rosaryshop.com/) that was very helpful for me in learning how to pray the LOTH. It’s called “Discovering Prayer.”

 

[OraLabora]

Do any readers have experience using one form or another of the Divine Office in family prayer?

I wish. Actually my children are grown and out of the house. My wife is Anglican and prays differently. I pray it myself daily, the whole thing. I’m very attached to it. It brings me a sense of stillness and stability.

 

[porthos11]

The Divine Office does not work for my wife, so I pray it alone, unfortunately. It’s something I cannot give up.

 

[OraLabora]

The Divine Office does not work for my wife, so I pray it alone, unfortunately. It’s something I cannot give up.

I’ve become addicted to the same “drug”. I’m exactly in your shoes with respect to the Divine Office. I can no longer live without it. I figure if ever I end up in solitary confinement, as long as I have my breviary I’d survive OK.

 

[babochka]

Do any readers have experience using one form or another of the Divine Office in family prayer?

We have prayed Compline from the Byzantine Daily Office in our family prayers. I liked it, but we haven’t yet developed a habit of it.

 

[Nesrad]

Did Compline work out well? How old are your kids?

I’m hoping to pray EF Compline partly in the vernacular and partly chanted in Latin using this beautiful little book. Until the children are old enough to read the translation, I will read the psalms aloud in the vernacular, but the rest will be chanted in Latin in order to familiarize them with the melodies.

 

[Marauder]

I have young kids and will occasionally do Evening Prayer with them and my wife. They actually like it. They will actually pray along when they can (i.e during the Our Father, during the intercessions.) I don’t do it every day with them. Some nights we do Evening Prayer as the prayer before bed, other nights it is more free-flowing. During Advent they actually request it because we do it with the candles lit and they love blowing out the candles. Any kids that don’t behave don’t get to blow out a candle.

My four year old keeps asking what “cast down” means when you have to say “cast down the lowly” in the Magnificat. Sometimes during times of the year that aren’t advent or lent I will switch to the version that is in the Magnificat instead of using the full LOTH.

 

[Nesrad]

By Evening Prayer you mean Vespers in the LOTH? That’s pretty long, I’m suprised you can get your kids to sit still. The candle thing wouldn’t be enough to keep mine under control.

 

[babochka]

Did Compline work out well? How old are your kids?

I’m hoping to pray EF Compline partly in the vernacular and partly chanted in Latin using this beautiful little book. Until the children are old enough to read the translation, I will read the psalms aloud in the vernacular, but the rest will be chanted in Latin in order to familiarize them with the melodies.

I have 5 kids, ranging in age from 2-10. The 9 and 10 year old did very well with it, the 6 year old is a bit of a hyperactive maniac, so my expectations were low. The 4 year old was in and out, the 2 year old is just along for the ride. As another poster said, candles help.

 

[OraLabora]

By Evening Prayer you mean Vespers in the LOTH? That’s pretty long, I’m suprised you can get your kids to sit still. The candle thing wouldn’t be enough to keep mine under control.

Recited it should be about 10 minutes, 15 tops. I chant it in Latin, and it takes me just under 20 minutes.

 

[Marauder]

By Evening Prayer you mean Vespers in the LOTH? That’s pretty long, I’m suprised you can get your kids to sit still. The candle thing wouldn’t be enough to keep mine under control.

Yes I mean Vespers. Yes it is pretty long, but I am not chanting or anything like that. I am just reading/praying it. They usually behave, sometimes one or both don’t get to blow out the candles but I would say they behave 90% of the time. It probably depends on the age of your kids, mine are 4 and 8. Of course you allow for a certain amount of fidgeting and it varies with the age of the kid. I actually have two candles that I can use during non-advent times or during advent to make the number of candles that have to be blown out even.

 

[Nesrad]

As it is, our family prayer lasts 10 minutes tops, and there is no way to get the younger ones to sit still. Mine are ages 6 months, 1½, 3, 4, 6 so they’re pretty young and pretty bunched up, which makes a rowdy crowd, especially since they’re all boys except the baby. I’m considering having two family prayers. A short one for the whole family, then sit the younger ones in front of a DVD and continue with Compline for the older ones.

 

[TimothyH]

Children might like to start with the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is a bit shorter and more regular. It is a simple one week cycle with no optional memorials or seasonal changes.

I know several adults who started with the Little Office, either through devotion to Mary or uncertaintly about diving into the full LotH, and became hooked, eventually graduating to the full version.

There is an older version of the Little Office from Baronius Press but it is much more complex. The one I am talking about is a later version.

catholicbookpublishing.com/products/111

-Tim-

 

[babochka]

As it is, our family prayer lasts 10 minutes tops, and there is no way to get the younger ones to sit still. Mine are ages 6 months, 1½, 3, 4, 6 so they’re pretty young and pretty bunched up, which makes a rowdy crowd, especially since they’re all boys except the baby. I’m considering having two family prayers. A short one for the whole family, then sit the younger ones in front of a DVD and continue with Compline for the older ones.

I really don’t try to get the little ones to sit still. When we pray the rosary, they are all over the place. I don’t want family prayers to be a miserable time for anybody. Basically, we (parents and older kids) pray, the younger ones are expected to be there and not disruptive. Otherwise, we’re just setting ourselves up for failure and frustration, and for everybody to have an experience that isn’t prayerful.

 

[drforjc]

Have used Evening Prayer (i.e. Vespers) in the current LOTH as a family prayer every Advent for almost 10 years. I assign parts to each child. One will do the reading, another lead the intercessions, etc. I will generally lead the dialogues and closing prayer.
Our kids were elementary school age when we started, except for the youngest was pre-school.
They “got it” relatively quickly.

For the hymn, we have generally used one of the Advent hymns from Adoremus Hymnal.