Liturgy of Hours Assistance

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What the correct version of LOH that I should procure ?
My apologies if in wrong category.
Pax et Bonum ><>
C. M. I
 
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I’m ignorant on the matter but is there only one approved Catholic version that has been used all these years?

Also just read something on USCCB that a revised version may be coming out.

The four volume set is expensive so I may just wait and get revised when available so I do not waste money.

Any thoughts ?
 
Someday. But I wouldn’t hold off buying the books if you want to get started.

You do have another option, though. There’s an app for your phone called iBreviary. The app is free and makes it easy to learn the structure of the prayers.
 
The traditional (Latin) breviary of 1962 is also still approved and in use. I have one from Baronius Press. It’s a bit expensive, but it is high quality and it’s Latin/English just like a traditional missal.
You can try if you like the traditional breviary on divinumofficium.com
 
If you are interested in chanting the Liturgy of the Hours’ Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer, and only those Hours, you might consider The Mundelein Psalter.
 
I own the four-volume set from Catholic Book Publishing, but I find using the Universalis app and website ( https://universalis.com/ ) a whole lot more convenient to use and a whole lot easier overall. Using the books is quite cumbersome (because one has to flip back and forth from many pages). The Universalis app (and webpage) puts the hymn, prayers, psalms, etc. all in the correct order.

That’s why most people I know who pray the Liturgy of the Hours (including priests) use an app versus a book to pray the LOTH nowadays.
 
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PeterT said:
most people I know who pray the Liturgy of the Hours (including priests) use an app
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I’m not aware of any app actually being approved for priests (or religious). Personally I find an app good to get an idea of how the individual hours are structured and when I’m in doubt about something I often look to the app. But learning the book takes only so much time and it makes the whole prayer more “mine”. It’s quite worthwhile to learn the technique I think. I have to look for the texts and sometimes I get to decide something. But I’m also admittedly a bit of a nerd. 😅
Edit: the books also makes it much harder to get distracted as opposed to using a phone where all things are possible and you only have to read/ sing the prayers straight. I also personally like to know my breviary has been blessed.
 
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OraLabora said:
It’s not “traditional”.
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I’m 25 years old and 1962 is ancient. It was a different time in the Church (pre Vatican II) and is much more liturgically intricate and orthodox than any other version of the Liturgy of the Hours currently approved. I stand by my choice of words.
 
TheMortenBay said:
I’m not aware of any app actually being approved for priests (or religious).
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I use the app all the time to fulfill the obligation to pray the office. What’s approved or not approved is the text, not the mode of delivery. If you’re using an app with an approved text, it fulfills the obligation. The app is handy when I’m trying to travel light or when lying in bed, where it’s harder to hold the book over my head while I pray.

-Fr ACEGC
 
TheMortenBay said:
I’m 25 years old and 1962 is ancient. It was a different time in the Church (pre Vatican II) and is much more liturgically intricate and orthodox than any other version of the Liturgy of the Hours currently approved. I stand by my choice of words.
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Saying it so won’t make it so. First of all “any of the Liturgy of the Hours currently approved” includes all of the Monastic versions which are far longer by about 100 psalms a week than even the 1962 Breviary. Even in their post-Conciliar versions.

That said, other than the number of psalms, the choral Liturgy of the Hours is just as intricate as the 1962. Here are two pages from the current Roman Antiphonary (Hymnal, 1982, and Vesperale, 2010) for today showing the Invitatory verse, and the gradual Christus Factus Est. These are identical to the ones you’d find in the 1912 Roman Antiphonary (used for the choral '62 Office).

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

I’m not the only one to think that the 1910 Pius X psalter was a radical rupture with ancient tradition:

blog.adw.org

Strange Moments In Liturgical History - How a Paragon of Liturgical Tradition May Have Caused Unintended Effects - Community in Mission

In the modern struggles and disagreements over the Liturgy, there tends to be a list of friends and opponents depending on one’s stance. For those of us with a more traditional leaning, Pope St. Pius X looms large as a friend and an image of tradition. He is usually seen as a defender of the …...
blog.adw.org
Alcuin Reid, OSB quotes the views of a number of liturgical scholars on this action by Pope St. Pius X:
  1. Anton Baumstark (in a scathing remark): Down to the year 1911 there was nothing in the Christian liturgy of such absolute universality as this practice in the morning office, and no doubt its universality was inherited from the Synagogue … hence, to [this “reform”] of Psalterium Romanun belongs the distinction of having brought to an end the universal observance of a liturgical practice which was followed by the Divine Redeemer himself during his life on earth .
  2. Pius Parsch commented, It is rather amazing that despite the conservative character of the Church Pius X should have resolved on this vast change which went counter to a practice of 1500 years’ standing .
  3. Robert Taft, SJ: … this was a shocking departure from the almost universal Christian tradition .
  4. William Bonniwell, OP: In the revision of Pius X the venerable office of the Roman Church was gravely mutilated .
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The Pius X Psalter reduced the recitation of psalms from about 250 to 150 per week. The LOTH took that down further to 60-70 depending on weeks and divisions. But then we read in the Rule of St. Benedict that the desert fathers said all 150 psalms in a day…

Certainly the recited LOTH is simple and that’s the intent for diocesan clergy, but there are elements of tradition in it, such as the psalms of the Office of Readings mostly coming from the cursus of Vigils in the 1500 y.o. Monastic Office, and various other licit options to flesh it out and bring it more in line with tradition, such as using psalms 4, 90 and 133 every day at Compline, or using the Gradual Psalms at two of the minor hours, consistent with monastic tradition.

I’m not saying all this to be pedantic, but as an educational moment concerning the history of the Divine Office, clearing up a common misconception.
 
So even if I compromised and said it’s MORE traditional than the current version, you’d probably still disagree with me? I of course agree that Pius X made major revisions both to the liturgy of the hours and to the liturgical calendar, but we really can’t talk about anything being traditional without it also being a break with some tradition or other. Like, we call the Tridentine Mass the “traditional Latin Mass”, but even that was a crystallisation and selection of another mass already in existence. I’d still argue it’s far more traditional than the Mass of Paul VI.
 
I think it’s better not to think of it as an argument you have to win or compromise on. Furthermore, you can’t talk about things being “traditional” as though that’s an either/or, all-or-nothing quality, something upon which to found a value judgment upon. “Traditional” things aren’t good merely because they’re “traditional,” whatever that means. There are a lot of things that got done for a long period of time that weren’t necessarily the best thing. This is why organic development is part of tradition, why change is always occurring as a part of it. That’s not to say that there aren’t issues to the office we use now, or to any one that we’ve used at different points. It just means that “traditional” doesn’t necessarily mean “optimal,” at least the way you’re using the word.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I agree with everything you said, Father.
Btw, if anyone is interested in trying one of the breviaries OraLabora is talking about, divinumofficium.com offers many different ones including one pre-trident monastic option. All at the push of a button.
 
As a Secular Order Discalced Carmelite,OCDS, I’m bound by the OCDS Constitution to pray at least the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, daily.

My wife and myself, started with the single volume of Christian Prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours. This is excellent for those who will mostly pray the Morning and Evening Prayers and it’s what I recommend for beginners. Catholic Book Publishing - Christian Prayer

My wife and myself eventually purchased the four Volume Set, as we wanted to do the Office of the Readings, which the Four Volume Set is complete with. Of course the four volume set costs over $120. So, the $25-$30 for the single edition of Christian Prayer, is more practical for most people.

Either way, it’s easier to pray the LOTH’s in a group, which is what the breviary’s are actually designed for. This will get you educated on how to pray the LOTH’s.

It’s a wonderful method of prayer and I highly recommend it.

Jim
 
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