Help me to learn to pray the LOTH

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You were correct. Propers trump Commons.

Page 1228 contains the hymns. Actually, the title “AFTER EVENING PRAYER I ON SUNDAYS AND SOLEMNITIES” is slightly misplaced. Those hymns are the Night Prayer selections for all days, not just after Evening Prayer I.

So, what you do for Night Prayer is say the usual God come to my assistance…, then select a hymn, then recite the Office as given on page 1233. Conclude with the second prayer, “Lord, we beg you to visit this house…” and the Marian antiphon.

BTW, a ferial is a weekday that has no particular saint or celebration attached to it. Basically, it’s a weekday when the priest wears green.
NOW I can to bed. 🙂

I knew someone would be along to help. Thanks!!
 
Evening Prayer took 65 minutes 😃 I begged pardon for my prayer time resembling more like a study session but I think I am going to get this. If desire matters, I’ve got it made 😃

Thank you so much everyone. I hope the thread stays open. I may be back with more 👍
 
When we first started it took us a long time too. Now Morning Prayer takes typically 20 minutes (Including Invititory). for Evening Prayer we do both Evening Prayer and Night Prayer together in 20 to 25 minutes. On weekends we add the Office of Readings to our Morning prayer and it takes about 40 minutes. By the way, we don’t skip anything. We do however recite rather than sing the hymns.

Keep at it and it will not only get easier but you will be less distracted by the page flipping and it will seem more prayerful.

God bless!
 
This thread is so helpful! My brother gave me his one volume Christian Prayer last Friday so I’ve just started praying the LOTH regularly. I am really enjoying it and it is such a great way for me to pray - so structured and it’s a little different every day but similar enough to be familiar.

I may have some questions, too, if the OP doesn’ mind! 😃
 
This thread is so helpful! My brother gave me his one volume Christian Prayer last Friday so I’ve just started praying the LOTH regularly. I am really enjoying it and it is such a great way for me to pray - so structured and it’s a little different every day but similar enough to be familiar.

I may have some questions, too, if the OP doesn’ mind! 😃
Sometimes i don’t even realize I don’t know something until someone else asks the question! 😃 Bring 'em on!
 
the best way to learn is to find somebody you can sit down with and do it.a priest is this type of person,so is a secular Carmelite-they pray the LOH and often the older ones pray the full office including the office of readings.remember it is said that “laudes and vespers are the hinges on which the church swings” and they are the essentials-they must be done everyday without fail because it is the secondary form of worship next to the Mass.your version may be different in its set out than others,altough the content is always exactly the same throughout the world,so agian i recommend going to your priest and asking if he can sit with you and show you,you take long strips of paper and a pen to write down notes and stick them in the pages for the next big hour like vespers,and then after a week ask father if you can say office in front of the Blessed Sacrament with him if you can-this will be way easier than trying to get stuff off the net because there is alot of different times of standing,kneeling,sign of the cross, etc.
 
the best way to learn is to find somebody you can sit down with and do it.a priest is this type of person,so is a secular Carmelite-they pray the LOH and often the older ones pray the full office including the office of readings.remember it is said that “laudes and vespers are the hinges on which the church swings” and they are the essentials-they must be done everyday without fail because it is the secondary form of worship next to the Mass.your version may be different in its set out than others,altough the content is always exactly the same throughout the world,so agian i recommend going to your priest and asking if he can sit with you and show you,you take long strips of paper and a pen to write down notes and stick them in the pages for the next big hour like vespers,and then after a week ask father if you can say office in front of the Blessed Sacrament with him if you can-this will be way easier than trying to get stuff off the net because there is alot of different times of standing,kneeling,sign of the cross, etc.
I actually learned with the one-volume set about six months ago. I prayed morning and evening prayer with the one volume. My husband recently bought me the four-volume set as a gift for my upcoming birthday and I am just needing a little hand-holding going from the one- to four-volume. The Office of Readings is new for me and I am trying to include the Proper of Saints and the Commons which I did not much do with just the one volume. It was kind of a getting my feet wet time. Now I would like to wade a little further from shore 🙂
 
Could someone please tell me what y’all are talking about? LOTH? :hypno:
 
I heartly second those who have recommended *The Divine Office For Dodos. * My brievary sat on the shelf for about a year before I bought Dodos. I also bought an Ordo and with that I know exactly what is being celebrated on which day.

I started with Night Prayer and then moved on to Lauds and Vespers Ordinary Time and then Lent and then Advent and lastly feastdays.

Two other books I have bought to enhance my understanding of the Office are: Psalms and Canticles: Meditations and Catechesis on the Psalms and Canticles of Morning Prayer by John Paul II and
Psalms and Canticles: Meditations and Catechesis on the Psalms and Canticles of Evening Prayer by John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
 
I am so very confused. I was given a copy of Christian prayer today. I have no idea how to even start. the blue ribbon is on page 624 twentieth sunday in ordianary time. That is when I would like to start…On Sunday I’m assuming. heres some questions
What is PSALTER?
why does it start with the evening prayer and then go on to the morning prayer.
Where do I find the Canticle of Mary?
Where do I find the Canticle of Zechariah?
And that’s just the blue ribbon I’ve got twenty more questions for the red ribbon. HELP ME please…:banghead:
 
I am so very confused. I was given a copy of Christian prayer today. I have no idea how to even start. the blue ribbon is on page 624 twentieth sunday in ordianary time. That is when I would like to start…On Sunday I’m assuming. heres some questions
Although I have the 4 volume ICEL, my one volume follows a different (UK) translation so I hope you’ll forgive the lack of clarity. Other posters with doubtless provide you with the page numbers and more fitting information
What is PSALTER?
The psalter is the psalms. The psalms are arranged not according to their numbers (i.e. 1, 2,3, 4…101, 102, 103…148, 149, 150) but in the order they are said. Some psalms fit certain hours better so they are said then, you see.

In the 4 volume, most of the 150 psalms would be there- in the 1 volume, only some, because the psalms belonging to the Office of Readings are not in there.

Along with the psalms come the antiphons. According to the General Instruction, the antiphons
  1. help to bring out the literary genre of the psalm;
  2. highlight some theme that may otherwise not attract the attention it deserves;
  3. suggest an individual tone in a psalm, varying with different contexts:
  4. help toward an understanding of the typological meaning or the meaning appropriate to the feast
  5. add pleasure and variety to the recitation of the psalms.
and psalm prayers, which are prayers based on a particular thoguht of idea of the psalms just recited.

The psalms are recited on a 4 Week cycle. After 4 weeks, we begin again from Week 1. The 4 Week cycle is strictly observed and only interrupted VERY occasionally for an important feast. Like this week, it was interrupted by special psalms said for the Assumption.

The psalms with their antiphons and prayers in the 4 week cycle make up the psalter. Also in the psalter you may find other elements such as intercessions, scripture readings, etc. These would normally be said in Ordinary Time when no saint is celebrated.
why does it start with the evening prayer and then go on to the morning prayer.
Sundays(because of the Resurrection) and extra special feast days (Solemnities e.g. Assumption) are marked out by having TWO Evening Prayers. One is said the evening before (Evening Prayer I), and one is said on the evening of the day itself (Evening Prayer II).

e.g. August 19, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Evening Prayer I of Sunday is said in the evening of August 18
Evening Prayer II of Sunday is said in the evening of August 19

Have you checked out the link in post 4? It takes you step by step through the LOTH
 
I use the four volume edition of the LOTH so I can’t give you exact page numbers, etc., but maybe I can help clear up some of your confusion.

1.“why does it start with the evening prayer and then go on to the morning prayer?” Solemnities (the most important of feast days–and Sunday is one of these important days) start at sundown on the evening before the feast, so the recitation of the Hours for a solemnity starts with Evening Prayer on the eve of the solemnity.

2." What is PSALTER?" The Psalter is the section of your prayer book that contains the unchanging parts of the Liturgy. It contains four weeks, which repeat over and over–your guide should tell you which week of the Psalter to use (for instance "19th Sunday in Ordinary Time–wk III)
  1. “Where do I find the Canticle of Mary? Where do I find the Canticle of Zechariah?” In the middle of your prayer book, probably right before the Psalter, is an explanation of how to pray each office (Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, etc.) The Canticle of Zechariah is found in the instructions for Morning Prayer, and the Canticle of Mary is found in the instructions for Evening Prayer.
It all can seem confusing when you are trying to learn everything at once–I recommend that you find a guide for the Liturgy and concentrate on just learning one Office at a time, preferably either Morning or Evening Prayer. Actually, once you learn one of them (say Morning Prayer), the other one (Evening Prayer in this case) follows exactly the same pattern, so it should be easy to follow.

Also I recommend that you concentrate on just learning the Office for each day at first–don’t worry about saint’s days, etc. Once you are comfortable with Morning and Evening Prayer for Sunday through Saturday, then you can start learning about how to celebrate the memorials of saints, etc.

It will take a little bit of work, but not very much, honest, especially with Christian Prayer which is the one volume edition of the LOTH. It is a wonderful spiritual experience–outside of the Mass, the LOTH is the most important prayer of the Church and you have the privilege of uniting your prayer with those rising to God from all over the world…:gopray:

Edit: hello, AJV–forgive me if I’ve repeated some of your information, you posted while I was still laboriously typing…:lol:

.
 
Edit: hello, AJV–forgive me if I’ve repeated some of your information, you posted while I was still laboriously typing…:lol:

.
I am NOT a modicum of clarity so probably it was for the best.😃
 
I am so very confused. I was given a copy of Christian prayer today. I have no idea how to even start. the blue ribbon is on page 624 twentieth sunday in ordianary time. That is when I would like to start…On Sunday I’m assuming. heres some questions
What is PSALTER?
why does it start with the evening prayer and then go on to the morning prayer.
Where do I find the Canticle of Mary?
Where do I find the Canticle of Zechariah?
And that’s just the blue ribbon I’ve got twenty more questions for the red ribbon. HELP ME please…:banghead:
First things first: Do you have a Saint Joseph guide for Christian Prayer for 2007?
 
First things first: Do you have a Saint Joseph guide for Christian Prayer for 2007?
No it does not say St. Joseph.It is from 1997, A friend at my parish gave it to me, she received it from her son ,who is a priest, for Christmas in 1997
 
Where do I find the Canticle of Mary?
Where do I find the Canticle of Zechariah?
If you’re using the same edition of Christian Prayer that I’ve been using, the Canticle of Mary is on page 696 (under “The soul rejoices in the Lord”), and the Canticle of Zechariah is on page 691 (under “The Messiah and his forerunner”).

maryj, when I bought my copy of Christian Prayer it came with a folded sheet of paper that says “Common Texts” and includes both canticles, plus Psalm 95, the Doxology (Glory Be) and the Te Deum Hymn. Is your copy missing this? If so then write out both canticles on a sheet of paper, fold it, and use it as a bookmark as you follow the 4 week cycle. You’ll need the Canticle of Zechariah for Morning Prayer and the Canticle of Mary for Evening Prayer every day. This will come very handy untill maybe one day you learn them by heart.

It might be a good idea to read the section “Ordinary” (page 686 in my edition) and the section “General Principles” (page 34 in my edition), as well as all the great advice on this thread 🙂 .
 
Would someone please check this out and see if they could help me understand how to use this?universalis.com/-500/today.htm
Universalis, though extremely good, does not use an approved translation. It is their own. Since the LOTH is *public *prayer of the Church, it is preferable to use an approved translation, though since as laypersons not bound to recitation of the Office, we can use anything for our private devotion. Also Universalis doesn’t have certain parts.

However I think you’ll find the calendar very useful- it tells you which saint and which psalm week we are in.

universalis.com/400/calendar.htm#22

If you are using the Universalis site, then all you nee to do is click on Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, etc. at the top and just read as you scroll down.
 
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