Liturgy of the hours and modern style hymns

[OraLabora]

I’m on my second copy of Liber Hymnarius. The first one is falling apart from constant use.

Unless I’m praying LOTH with a group of people, I use the Liber Hymnarius. Though my Latin isn’t tremendous, I’ve found resources to help me understand the more difficult portions.

^This.

I sing Gregorian chant in a schola so the Latin isn’t an obstacle for me though some of the melodies are pretty tough. I’m on my 3d copy BTW

For the tougher melodies it is possible to substitute a simpler one of the same meter (it’s a rubric in the Ordo Cantus Officii which guides the use of Gregorian chant in the modern Liturgy of the Hours).

For that matter I chant the LOTH every day in Latin, in Gregorian chant using Les Heures Grégoriennes, an antiphonary for the day hours which is noted for chant and includes the appropriate hymns. It’s an excellent resource as has all needed between two covers for every Office (there are 3 volumes: Advent/Christmas/Ordinary time in Vol I, Lent/Eastertide in Volume II and the Sanctoral in Vol III). It also has French alongside (my mother tongue) so I can always know exactly what the Latin is saying. I typically chant the psalm in Latin first then read it silently in French, which adds a nice pace to the Office.

For the Office of Readings I simply chant it recto-tono, usually in French, sometimes in Latin (though I’m working on my own antiphonary for it using Ordo Cantus Officii as guide; a neat little retirement project). I say that Office as Vigils very early in the AM.

Personally I dislike most modern hymns whether in French or English; but it’s a personal preference and I don’t care if others prefer modern. Some of the French hymns on the iambic dimeter like the Latin ones are OK because you can adapt simple Gregorian melodies to them.

My most recent copy of the LH BTW, I picked up used for $15 at the monastery book store; the abbey had just set up their own chant books with the hymns in them. The nice thing is that there are notes from the monk in it, and one of the tougher hymns (for the feast of St. Lawrence) which was only noted for the first strophe, had an insert with notation for the entire hymn. The other nice thing is that it had recently been re-bound so it’s in great shape! And full of ribbons!

Our Schola BTW, will be doing Vespers for the 4th Sunday of Advent at the cathedral in Sherbrooke, Quebec. We mix Latin and French. All the antiphons and the hymn will be in Latin. The first psalm (109) and Magnificat in Latin as well since they’re well known, with the second psalm and canticle in French but on Gregorian tones. Reading, intercessions and collect in French. Pater in Latin. I just finished drafting up the chant booklets for the choristers.

 

[Phemie]

Our Schola BTW, will be doing Vespers for the 4th Sunday of Advent at the cathedral in Sherbrooke, Quebec. We mix Latin and French. All the antiphons and the hymn will be in Latin. The first psalm (109) and Magnificat in Latin as well since they’re well known, with the second psalm and canticle in French but on Gregorian tones. Reading, intercessions and collect in French. Pater in Latin. I just finished drafting up the chant booklets for the choristers.

Now you’re making me want to change the date of my flight to Ottawa so I can make a side trip.

 

[OraLabora]

Now you’re making me want to change the date of my flight to Ottawa so I can make a side trip.

That would be a long detour for a 20 minute Office! That’s my main beef with the modern LOTH: in public celebration, it is too short and hardly justifies the effort to attend. It’s ok in private or community recitation where one is already on site, or for retreats or gatherings for other purposes. But in public, it would be better to use monastic Vespers, which has 4 psalms (and optionally, the NT canticle).

Mind you we have a workaround for that: we are also chanting the propers and ordinary of the Mass immediately following Vespers, in Latin Gregorian chant

Vespers is at 4:30 pm, with Mass following after a short pause at 5 pm. Just enough time for the schola to shift from the choir stalls where we sing Vespers, to the choir loft from where we sing the Mass

 

[Phemie]

That would be a long detour for a 20 minute Office! That’s my main beef with the modern LOTH: in public celebration, it is too short and hardly justifies the effort to attend. It’s ok in private or community recitation where one is already on site, or for retreats or gatherings for other purposes. But in public, it would be better to use monastic Vespers, which has 4 psalms (and optionally, the NT canticle).

Mind you we have a workaround for that: we are also chanting the propers and ordinary of the Mass immediately following Vespers, in Latin Gregorian chant

Vespers is at 4:30 pm, with Mass following after a short pause at 5 pm. Just enough time for the schola to shift from the choir stalls where we sing Vespers, to the choir loft from where we sing the Mass

Oh I’d also take advantage of the occasion to visit to an elderly “aunt” I haven’t seen almost 30 years and who, I found out recently, moved from Ville St. Pierre to Sherbrooke. But since I’m travelling on points, neither is going to happen.

 

[Elizium23]

This strikes me as a case of “no good deed goes unpunished.”

Divineoffice.org provides the Liturgy of the Hours for free.

You don’t have to buy the books. You don’t have to pay for access to either the text version or the podcast. They make the prayers available on the web or through an app. It’s all simply made available so you can pray the Church’s prayer more easily. (A form of prayer, by the way, that many people are unfamiliar with.)

And instead of thanks and praise, they get criticism over their choice of hymns, criticism for not chanting the prayers, criticism for using modern language (which is the approved translation).

If it’s so bad, why do you waste your time listening to this free resource?

DivineOffice.org is limited as to which hymns they can include because they must license their text and audio for use on the site and on the podcasts. So it is no real surprise that they do not all come from an ancient treasury with ultra-professional production values. “Christ in Whose Passion Once Was Sown” is done totally on a cheesy electronic keyboard with Kirgin-Voss on vocals. Despite of all that, I love it.

The clear solution is for more people to support DivineOffice.org through donations or purchases. I sent them $10 once I had been using the website on a regular basis, and the first app I ever purchased for my Android tablet is the Divine Office app. It is also available for iOS.

It’s the best investment I’ve made this year. And if more people support them, they will be able to afford a larger library of professionally performed hymns.