'Liturgia Horarum' - Impossible to find!

  • Thread starter Thread starter SeminarianUK
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SeminarianUK said:
Unless you have around $400 for the Midwest Theological Forum Six-Volume edition (Seriously?! How does that price encourage anyone to pray the Breviary?) then this wonderful jewel of the Church is impossible to find at a reasonable price.

Second hand copies are like gold dust, and it’s out of print at the Vatican printers, Paxbook. Anyhow they also charge well above what I’d describe as a reasonable cost for a very simple book.

I’m aware of an online source, but some of us like real books!

Any help?!🤷
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stpauls.org.uk/default/catalogsearch/result/?q=Liturgia+Horarum&x=26&y=13
 
I watched eBay for a while until a set of the Liturgia Horarum (Editio Typica Altera) showed up, and then I swiped it. I still use it, especially for Compline as I listen to the Vatican Radio website. I tried to use the 1962 Breviarium Romanum, but, As Ora Labora stated, I missed a lot of offices in the day and never saw myself praying all the psalms. Beyond that, you’d get stuck in the Common of Saints all the time and lose a sense of the seasons.

If I had to do it again, I’d just get the iBreviary app for my iPhone and set it to “Latin” in the language section. I think the app is free. Then I’d bookmark the Vatican Radio website where they offer the liturgical broadcasts (Lauds, Vespers, Compline). You can play the chant in the background as you pray along on your iBreviary app.

If you really like paper books to pray from (as I do), then your best bet is to either check ebay routinely, save up for a MTF version of the Liturgia Horarum, or find someone who is traveling to Rome and give them money to purchase the set in a Vatican bookstore.
 
Windmill said:
I watched eBay for a while until a set of the Liturgia Horarum (Editio Typica Altera) showed up, and then I swiped it. I still use it, especially for Compline as I listen to the Vatican Radio website. I tried to use the 1962 Breviarium Romanum, but, As Ora Labora stated, I missed a lot of offices in the day and never saw myself praying all the psalms. Beyond that, you’d get stuck in the Common of Saints all the time and lose a sense of the seasons.

If I had to do it again, I’d just get the iBreviary app for my iPhone and set it to “Latin” in the language section. I think the app is free. Then I’d bookmark the Vatican Radio website where they offer the liturgical broadcasts (Lauds, Vespers, Compline). You can play the chant in the background as you pray along on your iBreviary app.

If you really like paper books to pray from (as I do), then your best bet is to either check ebay routinely, save up for a MTF version of the Liturgia Horarum, or find someone who is traveling to Rome and give them money to purchase the set in a Vatican bookstore.
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Yes, this is exactly why I prefer to pray the OF latin LOTH (Liturgia Horarum). You have the ability to sing the Office by following along the Vatican Radio website: en.radiovaticana.va/on_demand.asp?gr=ltg

Since we’re on the topic of the Liturgia Horarum, there’s a few points I’d like to cover.
  1. I owe a debt of gratitude to the Vatican Radio website because after about 6 years of praying the Liturgia Horarum, I now know the melody to many of the Church’s ancient hymns by heart…I cannot emphasize enough the great treasure the Church has got to offer in the form of sacred music! This is a perfect way for anybody, especially laity, to discover the Church’s ancient hymns (many of them more than a 1000 years old), the very same hymns that the saints themselves also sang through the history of the Church. Of course, you will also learn how chanting the psalms work, and become familiar with the marian antiphons.
  2. Although definitely challenging at the beginning, it is possible to pray also the Office of Readings in latin. The more you do it, the more you get used to it. As I understand it, even Pope Francis prays the Office (including the Office of Readings) in latin. This became apparent from an interview they did with him at Francis’ office.
  3. As for those that affirm that the Liturgia Horarum is out of print, I believe this is just an issue with paxbook (and even then, not all volumes are out of print). Unfortunately for people living in the USA, paxbook seems to be the only distributor (for the Vatican edition books anyways).
  4. If you go to Rome you will definitely find all 4 volumes in the local religious bookshops. Also, if you buy all 4 volumes at once from the official Vatican bookshop (officially the John Paul II bookshop as you finish walking down the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica on your way out), you will get a 20% discount if you buy all 4 books at once, whether the vinyl or the leather edition.
  5. By the way, I myself decided to bite the bullet and buy the leather edition (back in 2008)…yes, steep price (but at least it came with the discount), but well worth the money. Six years on the books are in fine condition. I’ve heard many complaints that the “economical” vinyl edition books tear apart within a year or 2. Well not the leather edition…those books are well built, and are themselves a beauty to behold! People who are buying the vinyl “economical” edition are in the long-run buying a more expensive set because the books themselves will probably have to be replaced or professionally repaired should continued use of the Liturgia Horarum continue. At least with the leather edition, you are buying books that will last you for a whole lifetime of prayer, so from that point of view, they are cheaper.
 
kurtmasur said:
Yes, this is exactly why I prefer to pray the OF latin LOTH (Liturgia Horarum). You have the ability to sing the Office by following along the Vatican Radio website: en.radiovaticana.va/on_demand.asp?gr=ltg

Since we’re on the topic of the Liturgia Horarum, there’s a few points I’d like to cover.
  1. I owe a debt of gratitude to the Vatican Radio website because after about 6 years of praying the Liturgia Horarum, I now know the melody to many of the Church’s ancient hymns by heart…I cannot emphasize enough the great treasure the Church has got to offer in the form of sacred music! This is a perfect way for anybody, especially laity, to discover the Church’s ancient hymns (many of them more than a 1000 years old), the very same hymns that the saints themselves also sang through the history of the Church. Of course, you will also learn how chanting the psalms work, and become familiar with the marian antiphons.
  2. Although definitely challenging at the beginning, it is possible to pray also the Office of Readings in latin. The more you do it, the more you get used to it. As I understand it, even Pope Francis prays the Office (including the Office of Readings) in latin. This became apparent from an interview they did with him at Francis’ office.
  3. As for those that affirm that the Liturgia Horarum is out of print, I believe this is just an issue with paxbook (and even then, not all volumes are out of print). Unfortunately for people living in the USA, paxbook seems to be the only distributor (for the Vatican edition books anyways).
  4. If you go to Rome you will definitely find all 4 volumes in the local religious bookshops. Also, if you buy all 4 volumes at once from the official Vatican bookshop (officially the John Paul II bookshop as you finish walking down the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica on your way out), you will get a 20% discount if you buy all 4 books at once, whether the vinyl or the leather edition.
  5. By the way, I myself decided to bite the bullet and buy the leather edition (back in 2008)…yes, steep price (but at least it came with the discount), but well worth the money. Six years on the books are in fine condition. I’ve heard many complaints that the “economical” vinyl edition books tear apart within a year or 2. Well not the leather edition…those books are well built, and are themselves a beauty to behold! People who are buying the vinyl “economical” edition are in the long-run buying a more expensive set because the books themselves will probably have to be replaced or professionally repaired should continued use of the Liturgia Horarum continue. At least with the leather edition, you are buying books that will last you for a whole lifetime of prayer, so from that point of view, they are cheaper.
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I bought mine on eBay for $125 (and it’s the editio typical altera, i.e. the current “second” edition). So, all in all, I think I got a great deal even if it lasts only 10 years. 😃
 
Windmill said:
I bought mine on eBay for $125 (and it’s the editio typical altera, i.e. the current “second” edition). So, all in all, I think I got a great deal even if it lasts only 10 years. 😃
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Do you mean leather or vinyl? Either way, sweet deal!
 
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