Liturgy of the Hour Intentions

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

In the Liturgy of the Hours, do we have to use the intentions and responses in the book, or can we make up our own intentions and responses?

 

[japhy]

In the Liturgy of the Hours, do we have to use the intentions and responses in the book, or can we make up our own intentions and responses?

From the , Chapter III-XIGeneral Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours:
187. Since the liturgy of the hours is above all the prayer of the whole Church for the whole Church, indeed for the salvation of the whole world, universal intentions should take precedence over all others, namely, for: the Church and its ministers; secular authorities; the poor, the sick, and the sorrowful; the needs of the whole world, that is, peace and other intentions of this kind.

1. It is permissible, however, to include particular intentions at both morning prayer and evening prayer.
2. Different methods can therefore be used for the intercessions. The priest or minister may say both parts of the intention and the congregation respond with a uniform response or a silent pause, or the priest or minister may say only the first part of the intention and the congregation respond with the second part.
   In other words, you should use the intentions provided (cf. n. 187), although you may add your own particular intentions (cf. n. 188). You can decide whether or not to use the response after each intention or not (cf. n. 193).

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

From the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, Chapter III-XI:
187. Since the liturgy of the hours is above all the prayer of the whole Church for the whole Church, indeed for the salvation of the whole world, universal intentions should take precedence over all others, namely, for: the Church and its ministers; secular authorities; the poor, the sick, and the sorrowful; the needs of the whole world, that is, peace and other intentions of this kind.

1. It is permissible, however, to include particular intentions at both morning prayer and evening prayer.
2. Different methods can therefore be used for the intercessions. The priest or minister may say both parts of the intention and the congregation respond with a uniform response or a silent pause, or the priest or minister may say only the first part of the intention and the congregation respond with the second part.
   In other words, you should use the intentions provided (cf. n. 187), although you may add your own particular intentions (cf. n. 188). You can decide whether or not to use the response after each intention or not (cf. n. 193).

The difference between universal intentions and personal seems to say that we should pray:

For the Pope and the Bishops

before we pray for:

My Aunt Rose who is going in for surgery

No mention, as I read it, is made of the intentions in the book prepared by Catholic Book Publishing (where did they get those intentions in the first place?).

 

[japhy]

The difference between universal intentions and personal seems to say that we should pray:
For the Pope and the Bishops
before we pray for:
My Aunt Rose who is going in for surgery

No mention, as I read it, is made of the intentions in the book prepared by Catholic Book Publishing (where did they get those intentions in the first place?).

Well, GILH nn. 183-184 say:
183. In the interest of variety and especially of giving fuller expression to the many needs of the Church and of all people in relation to different states of life, groups, persons, circumstances, and seasons, different intercessory formularies are given for each day of the four-week psalter in Ordinary Time and for the special seasons of the liturgical year, as well as for certain feasts.

1. In addition, the conferences of bishops have the right to adapt the formularies given in the book of the liturgy of the hours and also to approve new ones, in accordance with the norms that follow.
   This leads me to believe that the intercessions in the book (at least in the English LotH as translated by the ICEL) are the ones to use. ebreviary.com uses the same intercessions.

 

[otjm]

The question not asked, but answered, is: where is the LOTH being said? In community? Or individually?

If it is in community, then the rules for saying it as the official prayer of the Church apply. If it is being said individually, then is it by someone who is required to do so daily - e.g. someone ordained, or just a member of the faithful? If it is sai by a member of the faithful, then it is honorable to say it according to the rules; if one is using it as a prayer format individually, but not attempting it as an offical prayer of the Church, then the rules do not apply.

Or in other words, if you are saying ti alone and not under a requirement, it doesn’t matter particularly.

 

[porthos11]

The question not asked, but answered, is: where is the LOTH being said? In community? Or individually?

If it is in community, then the rules for saying it as the official prayer of the Church apply. If it is being said individually, then is it by someone who is required to do so daily - e.g. someone ordained, or just a member of the faithful? If it is sai by a member of the faithful, then it is honorable to say it according to the rules; if one is using it as a prayer format individually, but not attempting it as an offical prayer of the Church, then the rules do not apply.

Or in other words, if you are saying ti alone and not under a requirement, it doesn’t matter particularly.

I go with your second paragraph. If praying alone, and not under a requirement, but still INTEND to pray the Liturgy of the Hours as the Liturgy of the Hours, the liturgical rules still apply.

I kinda wonder why people want to pray the Liturgy of the Hours (keyword is Liturgy), and then customize it according to their own preferences? After all, they have always been free to indulge in other forms of prayer. Customize it, I say, but then make no pretenses, either to oneself or to God that one is still offering up the Prayer of the Church as she intended. Intend it only as a prayer based on the Hours but not the Hours itself.

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

I kinda wonder why people want to pray the Liturgy of the Hours (keyword is Liturgy), and then customize it according to their own preferences? After all, they have always been free to indulge in other forms of prayer. Customize it, I say, but then make no pretenses, either to oneself or to God that one is still offering up the Prayer of the Church as she intended. Intend it only as a prayer based on the Hours but not the Hours itself.

To me, the Intentions would seem to be a very customizable part. Indeed, the rubrics say that personal intentions may be added (i.e., for Aunt Rose). I was wondering if they may be all changed (though still keeping with a Universal character). Don’t most Parishes do the same with their Intentions for Mass?

As for making a pretense - hey, I don’t use the opening hymn they recommend in the book either - you got a problem with that too!

 

[porthos11]

Hello,

To me, the Intentions would seem to be a very customizable part. Indeed, the rubrics say that personal intentions may be added (i.e., for Aunt Rose). I was wondering if they may be all changed (though still keeping with a Universal character).

No. Custom intentions may be added after.

Don’t most Parishes do the same with their Intentions for Mass?

There is no editio typica for intentions at Mass. Therefore, all Prayers of the Faithful/General Intercessions are customized at Mass. Not the same as the hours.

As for making a pretense - hey, I don’t use the opening hymn they recommend in the book either - you got a problem with that too!

Yes, there is a problem, unless you are picking another hymn from the Psalter or Common as the case may be, which is permitted by the General Instruction. Additional hymns require approval by the Conference. I don’t customize hymns either, as they too are governed by liturgical law, unlike at Mass.

 

[otjm]

Prayer is a conversation with God. It includes praise, petition, thanksgiving and reparation; and the Psalms especially seem to cover all four bases well. I think the reason that people use the LOTH as private prayer is the same reason someone might pick up a Psalm to pray (as opposed to simply reading for mediation purposes, e.g.). There is nothing about the LOTH when said privately that requires one to follow the rubrics exactly, if one is using that hour as a prayer form, as opposed to indtending to join in specifically in a specific liturgical act. Many people, I suspect, do not know all of the liturgical rubrics of the LOTH, and they say the hours privately.

Frankly, I find the hymns a major distraction if I do not know the music (and I can’t read music). So I don’t say them. I pray to converse with God; I use it because I was first introduced to the LOTH in seminary years ago; saying it or chanting it in community is the one thing I miss most.

 

[porthos11]

Prayer is a conversation with God. It includes praise, petition, thanksgiving and reparation; and the Psalms especially seem to cover all four bases well. I think the reason that people use the LOTH as private prayer is the same reason someone might pick up a Psalm to pray (as opposed to simply reading for mediation purposes, e.g.). There is nothing about the LOTH when said privately that requires one to follow the rubrics exactly, if one is using that hour as a prayer form, as opposed to indtending to join in specifically in a specific liturgical act. Many people, I suspect, do not know all of the liturgical rubrics of the LOTH, and they say the hours privately.

Frankly, I find the hymns a major distraction if I do not know the music (and I can’t read music). So I don’t say them. I pray to converse with God; I use it because I was first introduced to the LOTH in seminary years ago; saying it or chanting it in community is the one thing I miss most.

If one is using it only as a basis for private, i.e., non-liturgical prayer, it’s fine. But I specifically intend to say it as the Liturgy. In this case, there is nothing that says the hymns may be omitted. They may be recited if not sung.

 

[otjm]

If one is using it only as a basis for private, i.e., non-liturgical prayer, it’s fine. But I specifically intend to say it as the Liturgy. In this case, there is nothing that says the hymns may be omitted. They may be recited if not sung.

True, and I did not mean to suggest otherwise.

All things being considered, if one is intending to say the LOTH as part of the official liturgy of the Church, that is, as a liturgical act, then one should try to follow the rubrics.

On the other hand, there are those among us who become so fixated on the rubrics that they seem to forget that the purpose of the LOTH is to pray. Better they pray, and miss a few rubrics, than they catch all the rubrics and start to give them (the rubrics) preeminence in the process over medatative prayer.