I have heard contradictory things about "Christian Prayer"

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EphelDuath

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Some websites report that CBPC’s Christian Prayer has only an abbreviated Office of Readings and Daytime Hours, making it effectively a sort of Diurnale that a Catholic priest could licitly use for every hour (except Daytime Hours of course) to fulfill his canonical obligation to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, assuming he was also using a separate book for the Office of Readings.

I have heard from other websites that Night Prayer is also abbreviated, however. And I have heard from other websites that the Morning and Evening Prayers also differ from the official four-volume version in some ways. And yet, recently I have been told by a priest that since the abbreviated Readings and Daytime Hours have been approved by the USCCB, that therefore a priest could licitly only use Christian Prayer.

So what’s the deal on this book? What can it validly be used for?
 
Catholic Book Publishing Corporation’s Morning and Evening prayer are actually more full in CP than in the 4-volume LOTH (many of the Readings [not to be confused with Office of Readings] are longer) and there are two options for closing prayer on Sundays rather than just one.

Night prayer is the same in CP and LOTH.

CP Daytime Prayer and Office of Readings only have a one-week cycle and the offering of Biblical and Non-Biblical readings is very, very limited.

CP allows most members of lay orders to fulfill their obligations to pray Morning, Evening, and Night prayer daily.

I don’t know what a priest can or must use.
 
FYI:

***“Christian Prayer” was originally written as the "*interim breviary" while the 4 volume work was being written, after Vatican II. In fact my copy, when I was in the seminary, actually has this printed in it; don’t know if this is still written in CP after 1974. CP was the breviary that priests and religious used after Vatican II until the 4 volume set was published. Wether they can substitute it today :confused:, I don’t know.
 
Mary_Ellen said:
Catholic Book Publishing Corporation’s Morning and Evening prayer are actually more full in CP than in the 4-volume LOTH (many of the Readings [not to be confused with Office of Readings] are longer) and there are two options for closing prayer on Sundays rather than just one.
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Well then, does an addition with absolutely no subtractions whatsoever (assuming that is the case) still retain the canonical validity of Lauds/Vespers?
 
EphelDuath said:
Well then, does an addition with absolutely no subtractions whatsoever (assuming that is the case) still retain the canonical validity of Lauds/Vespers?
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Both Christian Prayer and the 4-volume Liturgy of the Hours are perfectly valid. As far as I know, so is Shorter Christian Prayer.
However, if you belong to (or are considering discernment with ) a secular order, you should find out if there is a particular version they would want you to use. Otherwise, as a lay person, you are free to use any of the three.
 
I understand that, but I am asking in regards to what is licit for a priest’s canonical obligation to pray the Office.
 
EphelDuath said:
I understand that, but I am asking in regards to what is licit for a priest’s canonical obligation to pray the Office.
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Have you asked your pastor? He would certainly know what’s required of him.
 
He said that a priest could licitly only use Christian Prayer, which opposes both my instincts and everything else I’ve heard about it.
 
Google is our friend.

Canon 276.2.3 – “priests and deacons aspiring to the presbyterate are obliged to carry out the liturgy of the hours daily according to the proper and approved liturgical books; permanent deacons, however, are to carry out the same to the extent defined by the conference of bishops”

According to the Congregation for Divine Worship (bold is mine): “Those who have been ordained are morally bound, in virtue of the same ordination they have received, to the celebration or the entire and daily recitation of the Divine Office such as is canonically established in canon 276, § 2, n. 3 of the CIC, cited previously.” The Office of Readings is specifically mentioned later in this same response.
zenit.org/en/articles/obligation-of-the-liturgy-of-the-hours
And the Office of Readings is not included in Christian Prayer.

Having said that, there may be a reason your pastor is allowed to use Christian Prayer instead of the 4-volume LoH. And really, that’s between him and his confessor.
 
agnes_therese said:
Google is our friend.

Canon 276.2.3 – “priests and deacons aspiring to the presbyterate are obliged to carry out the liturgy of the hours daily according to the proper and approved liturgical books; permanent deacons, however, are to carry out the same to the extent defined by the conference of bishops”

According to the Congregation for Divine Worship (bold is mine): “Those who have been ordained are morally bound, in virtue of the same ordination they have received, to the celebration or the entire and daily recitation of the Divine Office such as is canonically established in canon 276, § 2, n. 3 of the CIC, cited previously.” The Office of Readings is specifically mentioned later in this same response.
zenit.org/en/articles/obligation-of-the-liturgy-of-the-hours
And the Office of Readings is not included in Christian Prayer.

Having said that, there may be a reason your pastor is allowed to use Christian Prayer instead of the 4-volume LoH. And really, that’s between him and his confessor.
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My copy of Christian Prayer includes the entire 4-week psalmody for the Office of Readings. What’s abridged is the selection of readings. So he could be using those with permission. Alternately he may be taking the readings directly from his bible, with a different source for the patristic readings. There are many.

Or he may be using the more extensive two-year cycle of readings which I use, using a monastic lectionary that also draws its patristic readings heavily from monastic sources (St Bernard, and John Cassian figure prominently among others). The bible references for the two-year cycle of biblical readings are in the index of Christian Prayer, so he can be taking the readings directly from his bible using the reference table.
 
May I ask if the two-year cycle is available online, or if not, what is the name of the book in which this information can be found?

God bless!
 
EphelDuath said:
May I ask if the two-year cycle is available online, or if not, what is the name of the book in which this information can be found?

God bless!
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I haven’t specifically looked for it on line recently but when I did some time ago there was nothing “official”; one would have to use the Bible references and use an approved Bible translation, and another source for patristic readings.

I am using a Monastic lectionary, it’s the same one the abbey I’m associated with uses. It’s from Solesmes. Unfortunately it’s in Latin-French, and in 6 volumes (a shorter French-only version stripped of monastic-only feasts is available in 4 volumes and it’s considerably cheaper). It follows the Monastic calendar. My first language is French so it poses no obstacle. The Bible readings are from “La bible de Jérusalem”, which is not the official one but there’s no official 2-year lectionary in French using the Bible de la liturgie, the “official” translation that is still (40+ years on…) incomplete. In the monastery however, the abbot has authority to regulate the liturgy.

Also little known, in the monastic tradition it’s possible to abridge the first reading and replace the patristic reading with a brief biblical reading and versicle, during the summer months and for the weekday non-feast readings only. In some places that’s defined as the Monday following the Octave of Easter until November. At our abbey it starts the Monday after the Octave of Easter and lasts until Sept. 15th. It’s a great help for me as I like to get out the door earlier in summer so I can get home from work earlier as well but the downside is missing some excellent patristic readings…
 
Mary_Ellen said:
Catholic Book Publishing Corporation’s Morning and Evening prayer are actually more full in CP than in the 4-volume LOTH (many of the Readings [not to be confused with Office of Readings] are longer) and there are two options and there are two for closing prayer on Sundays rather than just one.

Night prayer is the same in CP and LOTH.

CP Daytime Prayer and Office of Readings only have a one-week cycle and the offering of Biblical and Non-Biblical readings is very, very limited.

CP allows most members of lay orders to fulfill their obligations to pray Morning, Evening, and Night prayer daily.

I don’t know what a priest can or must use.
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Remember, though, that the “alternative opening prayer” in the old mass translation, which is the same as the “alternative closing prayer” in both CP and LOTH, was not included as a Collect in the new mass translation. So, while it may be OK to continue using alternative closing prayer, until the new LOTH translation, I prefer to use the first one. Actually, I use the one from my “new” missal, which is the updated version of that prayer.
Using the new mass Collects for LOTHwas approved… I saw it on the internet, forget exactly which site.
 
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