Liceity of extending certain parts of the Liturgy of the Hours

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Spyridon said:
I’m seeking advice regarding whether it is licit to do certain things to extend the Office while praying it, from someone who is very familiar with both the LOTH and the GILH. Maybe someone like @OraLabora or @FrDavid96
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Just a thought, and not meant as criticism…

But why not privately message them and ask it, or use the thread for ask an apologist?

When you air a such a broad question, but have expectations of who is qualified to give an answer, it just sets the stage for debate.
 
Hereiam said:
When you air a such a broad question, but have expectations of who is qualified to give an answer, it just sets the stage for debate.
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Okay?

How is that helpful to the topic?

Why not take your own advice and just PM me?

Why read into my post something I clearly didn’t say…
 
No, between the last intercession and the Our Father. It’s a long standing monastic tradition in the Divine Office.

At the minor hours, the Kyrie comes after the verse, and the Our Father is said in secret up to “sed libera nos a malo” which is said aloud by all.

Kyrie Christe Kyrie once each.
 
@OraLabora

Alright, so here’s the list that I’ve come up with of licit ways to extend the Office. Please read it over and ensure the orthodoxy of it.
  1. Ways to extend any of the Offices - proclaim the caption out loud before saying the Psalm. Repeat the Antiphon after each strophe of the Psalm. Say the psalm-prayer at the end. Say the words slowly and from the heart. Make a bow or even prostration at the Gloria. Use some incense, and cense the LOTH and your icons, etc, at the Gospel.
  2. Ways to extend the OOR in particular: Pray the Psalmody from the week you’re in currently, then also pray the Psalmody from the same day of the next week. If it’s a Sunday, Solemnity, or Feast, read the Canticles and Gospel after the two readings.
  3. Ways to extend Lauds and Vespers in particular: extend the Biblical reading, just ensure that you read the actual verses which you’re supposed to for that particular day. Add extra intercessions in the intercessory prayers, being sure to make the final intercession one for the dead. After the intercessions and prior to the OF, pray Kyrie, etc… At the end of the OF, add the acclamation from Mass (“Deliver us o Lord… For the kingdom… Now and forever.”)
 
Adaptations to the hours celebrated in private certainly breaks no law of the church. Yet, the common sense rule of good taste always applies. You are free to make adaptations not contrary to the spirit of praying the hours.

Only visit various religious orders and you’ll see a variety of adaptations. Indeed, these are local traditions for these communities which enhance their prayer and make it unique to that community.
 
You haven’t mentioned silence as a way of extending the prayers. Silence between the psalms, silence after the reading – a bit of time to meditate on the words.
 
I think everyone is overlooking part of the OP’s question, and that is their question of what is licit.

The issue of licit would, I would think, rest on whether or not the OP has a canonical requirement to say the Office.

If there is none (and I presume there is none) then the matter of licitness would seem to be irrelevant. Thus, the Op could, if they desired, use something such as the publication The Magnificat, which has a truncated version of the LOTH. It would be less than the full LOTH, but not illicit to say.

However, it would not be recitation of the liturgy of the LOTH, as it was less than what is set out. It is about like going to Mass; if one only stays for the OT and NT readings and then leaves, one has not attended Mass; on weekdays there is no requirement, so it is not “illicit”; but neither is it attending Mass.

The same would seem to apply to the LOTH with the individual adding readings, or more psalms, or more canticles; if one has no canonical obligation, “illicit” does not apply; but neither does it seem to be participation in the LOTH, but rather a prayer format specific to the individual including psalms, a canticle, a reading, petitions, etc, plus whatever else one wants to add.

So if the OP desires to recited the LOTH - the 4 week cycle, (or for that matter, the two week cycle) according to the rules laid out for the specific community one follows - Benedictine or otherwise), then the OP should stick to the LOTH as laid out. Then take a break, and return to prayer with whatever other prayers, readings, psalms, canticles and etc one desires; but separate it off of the LOTh. One can also add some spiritual reading, or other spiritual exercises.

But if one has no canonical obligation, then the term “licit” seems misplaced.
 
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I am confused as to the rationale for stretching out the LOTH content and time-wise. We do not pile on prayers upon prayers and readings for Mass in order to deliberately prolong it (the greatest Liturgy); why would we feel the urge to do so for the LOTH?

Why not take those additional psalms or readings and spend quality time in lectio divina or extend the time for mental prayer? Mental prayer is so neglected these days…
 
Honestly, because I grew to love the Russian Orthodox liturgical practices.

Divine Liturgy routinely runs 3 hours. (They combine the Liturgy itself with pre-Liturgical prayers as well as a couple of the canonical hours).

Vespers alone can go for a full hour.

The full Liturgy of the Hours can take 6-8 hours a day to pray.

Growing to love that tradition, and coming to the OF Roman Rite where the LOTH can be zipped through in 30 minutes (all 7 Offices) I feel a bit liturgically famished at times.

I seem to be the polar opposite of most of my fellow American Catholics - the Mass will last an hour, and they’re itching to go and ready to zoom off like a rocket, whereas I’m sitting there thinking “that’s it? I want more!”

I’m looking forward to the Easter Vigil next weekend - I hope they use all the readings.

IMO, the longer the Liturgy the better. I LOVE liturgical prayer - it’s a joy to me, not a chore.
 
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otjm said:
I think everyone is overlooking part of the OP’s question, and that is their question of what is licit.
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Usually when people ask me these sorts of questions, I work with the assumption that they want to participate in the Church’s liturgy. I agree that as not being bound there is no obligation to the Office, and folks can modify it as they see fit to suit their needs, but then it ceases to become liturgy. Not only does it cease to become liturgy, but they miss a fundamental point about liturgy: it’s not all about me and my tastes, it’s the prayer of the entire Church, by the Church, for the Church (and her members), even when recited in private.

So I try to box my responses within that framework, and it is also my personal approach to liturgy. There is some wiggle room, and options in the General Instructions and the Ordinary that allow some measure of tailoring the Office to our preferences. In our monastic breviary for instance, many psalms have two sung antiphon choices, and I don’t necessarily use the ones the monks do, I use the ones in the psalm tones I find either more aesthetically pleasing, or easier to sing.

There is a surprising amount of latitude. The breviary I use, on a 1-week cycle, also has three other options for recitation on a 2-week cycle, and I fall back to one of them in the summer when I like to spend more time outdoors. So there is no reason why most folks can’t find an option that suits them (and their schedules) while having it remain “liturgy”.
SerraSemper said:
Why not take those additional psalms or readings and spend quality time in lectio divina or extend the time for mental prayer? Mental prayer is so neglected these days…
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I forgot to mention lectio and it is an excellent suggestion. The monks typically do lectio between Vigils (5 am-6 am) and Lauds (7:30 am), but it can be added after any hour, preferably one when you have some quality silent time afterwards (or before, nothing wrong with adding a prayer after lectio and having that prayer be the LOTH).
 
I think we agree on all points.

My concern is that there are a fair number of threads started on a fair number of topics other than LOTH, concerning “licitness”. And the opposite of licit is illicit.

As you noted, there are a number of alternatives which we are provided in what is generally covered under the umbrella of the Church’s LOTH, and all are permitted within their context.

Licitness, however as I understand it, is that if someone is canonically required to participate in the LOTH - either in community or individually, then one is held to the format of the LOTH as provided with its alternatives.

However, “licit” is not an operative word for those who are not canonically required. While you are on point with your notes, I am trying to respond (and perhaps I am over reacting) to what I see as a focus on legal/licit/illicit.

If one not canonically required wishes to participate specifically in the Liturgy of the Church, then one does not add or subtract other than as the provided alternatives.

If one says the LOTH, and then after concluding the hour, one separately says other psalms, canticles, spiritual readings, etc. then one has participated in the LOTH, and one has said other prayers/spiritual activities as part of one’s prayer life. One is free to alter the format of the LOTH (as one is not bound to it) but one is no longer saying the LOTH; one is using an altered format for prayer. Doing so is not illicit; doing so is also not participating in the LOTH. One is simply using the general format as a structure for one’s prayer life.

In short, we agree. I just see too much questioning of “licitness” with the other side of the coin being “THAT’S ILLICIT!”

Nope. As an old song from the 1960’s said “It ain’t necessarily so.”

You are privileged to be close to your abbey, I was near Mount Angel a few weeks ago, so stopped into the crypt hoping to participate in Vespers. My recollection is we said it at 5, and when I arrived, I found a number of seminarians in the crypt; they now have Adoration (time starting unknown). Vespers was at 5:30, and it brought back a flood of memories from 1964 - 1966. I really miss saying the LOTH in community.
 
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Agreed on all points, I’ll defer to an attorney on the specificities of the language 😉

Perhaps a better way to pose the question (though I doubt they’ll change) is “is it still Liturgy if I do x, y or z?”

I work at our abbey library every Wednesday, which means on those days I say Terce, Sexte, None and Vespers with the community, in addition to Mass. Vespers is still in Latin, in Gregorian chant; Mass has Latin/Greek propers and ordinary in Gregorian chant and the rest in French plainchant.

I feel blessed!
 
OraLabora said:
is it still Liturgy if I do x, y or z?”
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When I said “licit,” that’s exactly what I meant.

I am a layman under no obligation to pray the Hours (although my Spiritual director recommends I pray Lauds and Vespers daily).

The reason why it’s so important to me that when I pray the Hours I don’t do anything which will make it a simple devotional and no longer an act of Liturgy, is because the Church has infallibly proclaimed that Liturgical Prayer is the preeminent and most effective form of prayer available to humankind.

From Sacrosanctum Concilium #7:

“From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree.”

People often talk of the power of the Rosary, which is great. But the power of the LOTH is even greater than the Rosary. No other prayer besides the Mass is on the same level as the LOTH.

I have a huge devotion and love for the LOTH. I also do pray the Rosary, and I don’t mean to denigrate it. But in the world of Catholic prayer, the Liturgies of the Church reign supreme.
 
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I think quality time with the General Instructions is well worth the investment. You’ll find that just reading through once isn’t really enough. There are subtleties in the way things are written, and the language is very precise, but sometimes you have to read a paragraph through a few times to “get it”. A good example is the paragraph on the Invitatory. It confuses a great many folk praying the LOTH.
 
Spyridon said:
People often talk of the power of the Rosary, which is great. But the power of the LOTH is even greater than the Rosary. No other prayer besides the Mass is on the same level as the LOTH.

I have a huge devotion and love for the LOTH. I also do pray the Rosary, and I don’t mean to denigrate it. But in the world of Catholic prayer, the Liturgies of the Church reign supreme.
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While I would agree with you about the Liturgy being the greatest ranking prayer of the Church, I still wonder why it would be necessary to stretch it out way beyond the time normally allotted to it. Again, in my mind, prolonged mental prayer is of high importance and is often the most difficult prayer to exercise.
 
I think we all have particular forms of prayer that appeal to us. It doesn’t hurt to consider forms of prayer that may be less familiar – sometimes there’s a feeling of “Oh, I never thought of that!” But at the same time, if someone has found a form of prayer that really fills them spiritually, I’d be the last person to say they shouldn’t do it.
 
Spyridon said:
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Here’s my questions:
  1. Is it licit to extend the Office of Readings into a Vigils celebration by adding the Canticles and Gospel reading from this particular weeks Sunday during a weekday. For example, this is the 5th week of Lent - could I pray the Canticles and Gospel for the 5th Sunday of Lent, and attach that after the proper readings for the day although today is Friday?
  2. Is it licit to recite more than one hymn prior to each hour? Or how about a hymn and then one of the poems from the back of the LOTH volume?
  3. Is it licit to use more Psalms in a particular hour than what is outlined in the 4 week Psalter? For example, today the Psalter is in week 1. Could I use the Psalms from week 2 immediately after the Psalms from wk 1, and do this for all the Offices and thus be on a 2 week Psalter cycle?
  4. The Biblical reading for the day in the daytime hours or say in Vespers, is it licit to extend it by reading the reading out of my NABRE Bible? For example, the reading tonight for Vespers is 1 Peter 2:21-24. Can I pop open my NABRE Bible and just read the entire 2nd chapter of 2 Peter instead?
  5. After praying the Our Father, is it licit to add the acclamation which is said after Mass that says “Deliver us O Lord we pray from every evil… For the Kingdom, the Power…” then end it with the Gloria Patri?
  6. During the Intercessory prayers, can you add other intercessions, or take one of the Litanies from the Byzantine Rite Liturgy and attach that to the LOTH intercessions?
  7. At the concluding prayer, can you recite the prayer 3 times in a row out loud?
…

Thanks.
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It’s been busy, so I haven’t had a chance to check-in here lately.
  1. No. That goes a bit too far in mixing things.
  2. Yes. There’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to hymns. In private recitation, I don’t see this as an issue.
  3. No. Again, goes too far in mixing things. You replace the 4 week cycle with a 2 week one, and that goes against one of the basic principles of the revised LOTH.
  4. Yes. The parallel here is the readings at Mass. The Lectionary very specifically says that the readings can be extended (for example, passages that introduce or continue a reading can be added for the sake of putting that particular reading into context). Since it’s allowed at Mass, it stands to reason it would be allowed for the Hours.
  5. No. Maintain the structure of each one (Mass or Hour), as published.
  6. Adding an intercession? Yes. (#188) However, I don’t think taking the Byzantine Litany and inserting it would be appropriate. The intercessions are composed in such a way as to “match” with the rest of the prayers of that day. Unlike at Mass, there’s no provision for composing an entirely different set of petitions. Also, adding an entire Litany would then be redundant and repetitive.
  7. No. It happens once.
 
I understand your devotion to LOTH (I just added praying the OOR to my daily routine and it is great!), but why not add another type of devotion, particularly Lectio Divina? It doesn’t have a rigid format so it can be expanded/contracted to meet your needs.
 
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