Little Office of the Blessed Virgin

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Does anyone pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary? How long does it take to pray it? Is it worthwhile? I was thinking about starting to after Easter.
 
Jeff616 said:
Does anyone pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary? How long does it take to pray it? Is it worthwhile? I was thinking about starting to after Easter.
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I’ve read if you wear the Brown Scapular you HAVE to pray it.
 
cyberwolf001 said:
I’ve read if you wear the Brown Scapular you HAVE to pray it.
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No, that’s not true. 🙂 The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel may be worn by anyone, even you cyberwolf. No particular prayers have to be said to wear it.

The Little Office is now subsumed into the greater Liturgy of the Hours. It is the Saturday prayers in honor of Our Lady. Anyone may pray the Little Office, of course, as a personal devotion, but the Carmelites no longer print it as a separate booklet.

The better thing to do, if lay people wish to pray the prayer of the Church, is to pray the LOTH, Morning and Evening Prayer, at the least, and the other hours of the day if desired. That way one is praying with the whole Church around the world. I recommend Christian Prayer for that because it is simpler to use than the 4 volume set, has the hymns and propers of the seasons and the major saints. Or one can pray it online at: divineoffice.org/ where it’s all laid out on one page for each day. 🙂
 
Link
The Conditions are: 1) The faithful wearing of the scapular; 2) to observe chastity according to one’s state in life; and 3) to recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary daily, or with special permissions from a priest, the Little Office may be cummuted (changed) to five decades of the Rosary or other prayer of works. The Rosary and the scapular are inseparable!
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Note: You need a Priests okay to substitute the Little Office.

I wonder how many Catholics bother to do that.
 
Yes it is still being printed i just bought one at my parish shop a few months ago. The devotion is quite beautiful.
 
cyberwolf001 said:
Link

Note: You need a Priests okay to substitute the Little Office.

I wonder how many Catholics bother to do that.
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That’s if you are enrolled in the Scapular. Otherwise, anyone may wear it with no conditions attached.

And yes, the Little Office is still available in print, but the Carmelites no longer do it.
 
The rector of this basilica-parish recently enrolled me in the Brown Scapular. His book of blessings listed five potential ways to fulfill the ‘obligation’: 1. Pray the Divine Office, 2. Pray the Little Office of the B.V.M., 3. Pray a chaplet of the rosary daily, 4. Pray seven Our Fathers, one Glory be, and one Hail Mary daily, or 5. Pray three Hail Marys morning, noon, and night daily. I chose the fourth option, because I really love the Lord’s Prayer and the Minor Doxology. 😃

The Little Office has always attracted me as an idea. Once I’m baptised I’ll dive right into it…
 
cyberwolf001 said:
I’ve read if you wear the Brown Scapular you HAVE to pray it.
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Yes and no.

Yes, that is the formal requirement of being enrolled in the Brown Scapular.

No, it is usually commuted to the praying of the Rosary instead. But it must be commuted by the priest who enrolled you (IIRC) for it to count as an alternative.
 
Been saying the L.O.B.V.M for about 18 months now. And I listen to the Monks of Norcia for Vespers every afternoon. ( osbnorcia.org/blog/ )

I had some trouble at first because not all of the “tricks of the trade” were written in the book. I asked our local priest for some instruction. That made the learning process so much easier.
 
I try and do Lauds and Vespers from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. It takes me about 15-20 minutes each time. I’ll expand into other Hours eventually.
 
Jeff616 said:
Does anyone pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary? How long does it take to pray it? Is it worthwhile? I was thinking about starting to after Easter.
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People will pray the Little Office for many reasons. Sometimes in addition to the Divine Office, sometimes as a shoter and easier substitute for the Divine Office.

The pre-Vatican II Little Office is for sale at…

baroniuspress.com/book.php?wid=56&bid=47

And post-Vatican II at…

catholicbookpublishing.com/ShowProduct.aspx?ProductID=307&DepartmentID=91
 
I’m glad there are copies still available in print, especially the pre-VII version. Not that’s there’s anything wrong with the post-VII, but I love the older English phrasing which I find richer in meaning than the more modern, less euphonious rendering. But, that’s me. :tiphat:
 
I have prayed the LOBVM for a number of years. The number of hours I pray has varied with my schedule, but I try to pray compline daily. It is a wonderful devotion, and the Latin psalms and anthems are very pretty.
 
I just recently prayed the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin to give an extra something to a novena I was starting. There was morning and evening prayers and they each took about ten minutes. I used this website: liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/LittleOffice.htm

Even though I am perpetually short on time for lengthy daily prayers now, I enjoyed doing this devotion. I felt more in communion with the Church than I do when I say the prayers out of the Magnificat. I would totally reccommend it!
 
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