For those who pray the Breviary/ Little Office of the BVM

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Hi all

I’ve been praying the Little Office (1961 Editio Typica) for about 2 weeks now. Regrettably, I just can’t seem to get anything out of it. My mind often drifts, especially due to the fact that the psalms are the same for every day at every hour. I don’t know whether I should drop it or just persevere regardless??
I’ve been going through great trials as of late and I just don’t feel that ‘connection’ from praying the Little Office the same way I do when praying the Rosary or mental prayer. I need that extra comfort in the morning when I wake up and I don’t seem to be getting it from the Little Office? I’m the first one who says that ‘feelings’ aren’t important in prayer but given the situation maybe it might be best to put it off for a while and just pray more spontaneously instead?

Another issue that will arise if I decide to continue to pray the LO: I am going to start a new job next week that will require me to be at the office from about 9am to 5.30pm. Now, for those who pray the Office, how do you do so at work? Do you just open your breviary and say the relevant prayers silently? Do you cross yourself at the “Deus + in adjutorium” part?

I have to admit that I’m quite reluctant to pray the hours in front of everyone at the office. I’m a coward and I’ve been praying to God to give me the strength and courage I need to pray the hours unfailingly and publicly without being apologetic about it. The prospect of doing so, however, frightens me quite a bit. How do you handle that?

It would be great to hear how you guys get by praying the Breviary/LOTH/LOBVM and any suggestions you might have would be immensely appreciated.

Many thanks 🙂
 
JRTJ said:
Hi all

I’ve been praying the Little Office (1961 Editio Typica) for about 2 weeks now. Regrettably, I just can’t seem to get anything out of it. My mind often drifts, especially due to the fact that the psalms are the same for every day at every hour. I don’t know whether I should drop it or just persevere regardless??
I’ve been going through great trials as of late and I just don’t feel that ‘connection’ from praying the Little Office the same way I do when praying the Rosary or mental prayer. I need that extra comfort in the morning when I wake up and I don’t seem to be getting it from the Little Office? I’m the first one who says that ‘feelings’ aren’t important in prayer but given the situation maybe it might be best to put it off for a while and just pray more spontaneously instead?

Another issue that will arise if I decide to continue to pray the LO: I am going to start a new job next week that will require me to be at the office from about 9am to 5.30pm. Now, for those who pray the Office, how do you do so at work? Do you just open your breviary and say the relevant prayers silently? Do you cross yourself at the “Deus + in adjutorium” part?

I have to admit that I’m quite reluctant to pray the hours in front of everyone at the office. I’m a coward and I’ve been praying to God to give me the strength and courage I need to pray the hours unfailingly and publicly without being apologetic about it. The prospect of doing so, however, frightens me quite a bit. How do you handle that?

It would be great to hear how you guys get by praying the Breviary/LOTH/LOBVM and any suggestions you might have would be immensely appreciated.

Many thanks 🙂
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When I worked those hours I would skip mid morning
and instead say noon in my car at noon! Ha.

You might though be happier with the full Divine Liturgy
or Christian prayer.
 
I would recommend the LOTH. It isn’t repetitive, and the psalms are spread over 4 weeks so it isn’t too onerous either.

When I worked I would quietly pray the mid-day prayer at my cube just before lunch, and also Terce just after I arrived at 9 am. I would often get interrupted, except by one Catholic and one Muslim colleague. Even though the Muslim colleague was obviously from a different faith, she had a great deal of respect for my prayer life. If she came to see me on a technical matter, but saw I was in my breviary, she would quietly whisper that she would come back later; my Catholic colleague would do likewise. The secular colleagues were the ones tending to interrupt but not out of malice, just out of being clueless. But it didn’t bother me, I’d just resume or restart after they’d left.

The Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer, I pray at home.

I also chant the Office when praying at home. It helps keep the mind on the task at hand 🙂
 
I find the Little Office of the BVM appealing especially because of its repetitive nature, in the periods I pray it. But then those may be times when that is exactly what I need.

Remember that as a lay person, you are not bound to any devotion unless you have made some sort of obligation, like wearing the brown scapulary, but even then you could get permission from a priest to say the rosary or some other Marian prayer instead. Do what helps you in your relationship with God. Currently, because I’m simply not in a state where I have the energy to pray several times a day, I say a few, regular prayers in the morning, which is better than nothing.

As to praying at work or in public, I’ve never been in that situation, but I did pray the Little Office on the bus to campus back when I took my previous degree. The trip was just long enough to squeeze in Lauds and Prime. I followed all the rubrics except kneeling, standing and so on. People did sometimes throw glances at the signs of the Cross and the slight bows, but then people see a lot of things throughout the day… so I didn’t care. But if it might get you unwanted attention at work, skip them. It is better to pray without external gestures than not to pray.

Edit: Since you mentioned “Deus, in adiutorium meum intende” &c. I take it you read the Office in Latin, which is commendable in my opinion. However, if your mind drifts, try reading each part in Latin, then English, and so on. It takes longer, but it might help you stay focused and even sneak in some more Latin knowledge. Unless you happen to understand Latin without help already, in which case I guess it won’t be of much use 🙂

That said, I enjoy letting my mind drift while praying the Office. I’m not really sure it’s that much of a problem. Obviously being entirely focused is an ideal, but it’s just not always achievable. Priests drift, too. And as with the external gestures, at least (in my humble opinion) it’s better to pray with a drifting mind than not to pray at all. But obviously, if some other devotion helps you focus more, there is no reason not to choose that other devotion.
 
I would follow along to the audio divine office on my kindle to and from work. I never had the chance to say it forming office hours.
 
Ah, yes…focus and drifting focus…may God deliver us;) And yet as He chooses not to do so, we are left with praying as best as we mere mortals can.

The four volume LOTH is so rich in scripture and variety that I find it easier to make it a daily habit. That said, the LOBVM is beautiful, and it is what I take backpacking and camping. I struggled for several years to learn this habit, and still my mind drifts at times. I was told it took 42 days to develop a habit, but kept skipping before I made it . Now that it is a habit, it frames my whole day in a truly God centered manner.

My advice, if you really desire this practice of prayer, is to remain as faithful as possible to your office. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or two, just go back to it. Don’t ever be ashamed about praying, but do not pray loudly if it could disturb others’ work. You may be surprised to find you inspire others at your workplace and give them the needed courage to be pray-ers, too!
 
OneHolyCathAp said:
Ah, yes…focus and drifting focus…may God deliver us;) And yet as He chooses not to do so, we are left with praying as best as we mere mortals can.

The four volume LOTH is so rich in scripture and variety that I find it easier to make it a daily habit. That said, the LOBVM is beautiful, and it is what I take backpacking and camping. I struggled for several years to learn this habit, and still my mind drifts at times. I was told it took 42 days to develop a habit, but kept skipping before I made it . Now that it is a habit, it frames my whole day in a truly God centered manner.

My advice, if you really desire this practice of prayer, is to remain as faithful as possible to your office. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or two, just go back to it. Don’t ever be ashamed about praying, but do not pray loudly if it could disturb others’ work. You may be surprised to find you inspire others at your workplace and give them the needed courage to be pray-ers, too!
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^^^This.

I can’t stress enough the influence of the LOTH in my life. I always travel with my breviary. It took a long time to develop the habit. I’ve been praying the Office for about 12 years now. I’ve had periods where I’ve goofed off. I find Octaves not particularly stimulating, especially the Easter one, because of the repetitiveness. The Christmas Octave has a bit more variety. But I digress.

Sometimes I really, don’t feel like saying the Office but I force myself anyway, and for some silly reason those are the times when something in the Office… a psalm verse, a scripture reading… pulling off an antiphon melody psalm tone correctly all the way through (I chant Lauds and Vespers in Latin), or just an overall sense of calmness… manages to hit me and make me realize that I am in the right place at the right time.

It does help to have a dedicated area, I have a small oratory (I’ve posted pics on various threads) in my study at home.

Sometimes like now I take up the monastic version for a while, especially when I feel that the monks at our abbey need extra support and prayers and I have a bit of extra time on my hands.

I’ve never tried any of the Little Offices though. I have “Prière du temps présent”, the LOTH in French in one volume (basically the equivalent of Christian Prayer… a bit more actually as it has the full mid-day Offices; but doesn’t have the readings for the OOR). It’s in a miniature pocket size which I can take just about anywhere, but most times I just bring my full LOTH volume with me.
 
Also, the Liturgy of the hours is on line, so that may make it a little easier at work if you can access it. :tiphat:
 
OraLabora said:
^^^This.

I can’t stress enough the influence of the LOTH in my life. I always travel with my breviary. It took a long time to develop the habit. I’ve been praying the Office for about 12 years now. I’ve had periods where I’ve goofed off. I find Octaves not particularly stimulating, especially the Easter one, because of the repetitiveness. The Christmas Octave has a bit more variety. But I digress.

Sometimes I really, don’t feel like saying the Office but I force myself anyway, and for some silly reason those are the times when something in the Office… a psalm verse, a scripture reading… pulling off an antiphon melody psalm tone correctly all the way through (I chant Lauds and Vespers in Latin), or just an overall sense of calmness… manages to hit me and make me realize that I am in the right place at the right time.

It does help to have a dedicated area, I have a small oratory (I’ve posted pics on various threads) in my study at home.

Sometimes like now I take up the monastic version for a while, especially when I feel that the monks at our abbey need extra support and prayers and I have a bit of extra time on my hands.

I’ve never tried any of the Little Offices though. I have “Prière du temps présent”, the LOTH in French in one volume (basically the equivalent of Christian Prayer… a bit more actually as it has the full mid-day Offices; but doesn’t have the readings for the OOR). It’s in a miniature pocket size which I can take just about anywhere, but most times I just bring my full LOTH volume with me.
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Thanks for the advice. Saw your oratory - wish I had one!! Must be amazing to pray there
 
I use Ibreviary on iphone and computer. It has everyday readings already set for each day.
 
I say the Litlle Office of the BVM daily using the 1904 version from St. Bonaventure Publications. It has both Latin and English. The Antiphons vary from liturgical season to season. Matins is great because the Psalms do vary. For example; Sunday, Monday and Thursday. Another set for Tuesday and Friday and a third set for Saturday and Wednesday.

The only problem I have is finding an understandable set of rubrics; i.e. when to stand, face the altar, bow and kneel.

Its getting better as I learn more vocabulary pertaining to the L.O. BVM.
 
JRTJ said:
Hi all

I’ve been praying the Little Office (1961 Editio Typica) for about 2 weeks now. Regrettably, I just can’t seem to get anything out of it. My mind often drifts, especially due to the fact that the psalms are the same for every day at every hour. I don’t know whether I should drop it or just persevere regardless??
I’ve been going through great trials as of late and I just don’t feel that ‘connection’ from praying the Little Office the same way I do when praying the Rosary or mental prayer. I need that extra comfort in the morning when I wake up and I don’t seem to be getting it from the Little Office? I’m the first one who says that ‘feelings’ aren’t important in prayer but given the situation maybe it might be best to put it off for a while and just pray more spontaneously instead?

Another issue that will arise if I decide to continue to pray the LO: I am going to start a new job next week that will require me to be at the office from about 9am to 5.30pm. Now, for those who pray the Office, how do you do so at work? Do you just open your breviary and say the relevant prayers silently? Do you cross yourself at the “Deus + in adjutorium” part?

I have to admit that I’m quite reluctant to pray the hours in front of everyone at the office. I’m a coward and I’ve been praying to God to give me the strength and courage I need to pray the hours unfailingly and publicly without being apologetic about it. The prospect of doing so, however, frightens me quite a bit. How do you handle that?

It would be great to hear how you guys get by praying the Breviary/LOTH/LOBVM and any suggestions you might have would be immensely appreciated.

Many thanks 🙂
Click to expand...
 
Please don’t lose heart…continue to pray the office…I pray the LOTH and bring my breviary to work…there is a way to do it w/out calling attention to yourself and yet not being ashamed of spending some time in prayer…dependng ofcourse on what yr job entails…it’s rather easy for me…in 2002 I took a trip across the water to Rome with a Priest friend and 6 High School Students…he’s a super Priest, …felt it would be good to have a civilian with they crowd…his brother (who is now a Seminarian) was also with us…I got to experience rooming with the clergy and witnessing what he did prior to retiring at night…he was not showing off/out…also on the flight over he pulled out his Breviary and prayed his office without really calling attention to himself…there are ways…as an aside…I recently visited Clear Creek Abbey in OK…a Benedictine Monastery…prayed the Office with the Monks who chanted in Latin…everything was in Latin…Mass also…It was Heavenly…the point I want to make is…that when the Monks minds would wander…they would fall to their knees during chanting …they would occasionally do this reverently…w/out show…then return to their seat or standing…technically, we should bow 30 degrees at certain times…and kneel certain times…so…to cross ourselves while praying is not really that much out of the way…PAX
 
awsiukiewicz said:
that when the Monks minds would wander…they would fall to their knees during chanting …they would occasionally do this reverently…w/out show…then return to their seat or standing…
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They do this, actually, to make satisfaction when they make a mistake chanting, usually making a mistake on a an antiphon or hymn melody or mess up a psalm verse or make a mistake in a psalm tone for a particular verse (Latin psalmody is quite complex and is based on accents, with several exceptions to the formula for certain median or finale endings). You probably didn’t notice the error, but someone well versed in psalmody would.

This is in fact spelled out in the Rule of St. Benedict:
Chapter 45: On Those Who Make Mistakes in the Oratory
Mar. 25 - July 25 - Nov. 24
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When anyone has made a mistake
while reciting a Psalm, a responsory,
an antiphon or a lesson,
if he does not humble himself there before all
by making a satisfaction,
let him undergo a greater punishment
because he would not correct by humility
what he did wrong through carelessness.
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Side note, Clear Creek is in the same congregation as the abbey I’m associated with, and is one of the several abbeys using the EF Mass and the pre-Vatican II monastic breviary.
 
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