Liturgy of the Hours for Laity

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Roseeurekacross

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Hi,

I have Breviary app. I am trying to work out how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Very confusing. Is there a simple way to work out what to pray for each ‘Hour’, or a LOTH for dummies.

Thanks.
 
Which app are you using, and on what platform (iOS, Android, etc.)?
 
Start simple: Morning Prayer sometime after you wake up and before lunch; Evening Prayer near dinner, and Night Prayer at bedtime. Work the others in where you see they naturally fit your schedule later, after you have established a habit. There are traditional times for these prayers, but for a beginner, developing your own rhythm first is probably more important to sticking with it.
 
Some questions
A)
In the app there is something called
  1. Commons
    2.Office of Readings
    What are they?
B)
For the Morning Prayer for Sunday 5 March
It starts with the Invitatory
Then 4 Psalms
Then 2 Hymns
Then Psalmsody
Then Reading
Then Responsory
Then Gospel Canticle
Then Intercessions
Then Lord’s Prayer
Then Concluding Prayer
Then Dismissal

Are all of those included in the Morning Prayer or are there choices to be made on which Psalm or Hymn etc are prayed?
 
Before I begin, please note that there are others who can articulate these points better than I. I am only a member of the laity who is not canonically bound to the LOTH, and I have not formally studied theology or liturgy.

Also, I am unfamiliar with the LOTH on Laudate and only vaguely familiar with it on iBreviary, as I pray the offices from a tangible breviary 99% of the time.

A1. A common is a part of the liturgy consisting of a set of prayers common to a category of saints, such as martyrs. These are used for both the Mass and the LOTH on feast days of saints of the relevant category.
A2. The Office of Readings is one of the liturgical Hours, like Morning Prayer (Lauds) or Night Prayer (Compline).

B. There are choices for the invitatory psalm and hymn. Note that the invitatory is only recited at Morning Prayer if this is the first Hour you pray that day. If you begin your prayer day with the Office of Readings, the invitatory would be prayed then. Were you to pray MP first, the invitatory would precede that.

I fear this may be rather confusing. When I started praying the LOTH, I asked my pastor to teach me (bound to the LOTH canonically, he has prayed all Hours daily for more than forty years). Without his guidance in the beginning I would not have figured this out on my own, or it would have been very, very slow. Hopefully you’re more clever than I am, but I would still encourage you to find someone in real life who can assist you in learning the order of the LOTH. In my opinion there’s no substitute for having someone physically present who can guide you though step by step in real time.

Also, start small. I actually started by only praying Compline and gradually added other Hours over time.

God bless 🙂
 
Ok I hope this helps, but I may be misinterpreting your question.

I have the Laudate app, (really great app overall) and it DOES have the Liturgy of the Hours.

However, when you select that option, you will need some sort of internet connection. When you select the LOH option, Laudate opens up with the options for what time of day you are praying (Morning, Mid-Morning, Midday etc.). Once you decide on one of those, it takes you to a website called universalis.com

Universialis is another great site!

Hope that helps
 
Have you thought of asking one of your Parish Priests/Deacons to give you a tutorial on how to pray the LOTH? It might be the best way to do so as you would be using the books right in front of you. My Parish has an Adult Faith Formation group lead by the Deacon. One of the courses was on how the pray the LOTH.
 
tawny said:
Have you thought of asking one of your Parish Priests/Deacons to give you a tutorial on how to pray the LOTH? It might be the best way to do so as you would be using the books right in front of you. My Parish has an Adult Faith Formation group lead by the Deacon. One of the courses was on how the pray the LOTH.
Click to expand...
Ah yes. If it is a matter of knowing how to pray the LOTH, then I second this post
 
Like UpUpAndAway said, there are options for the invitatory psalm and hymn. With iBreviary, it will list the options with a red "or between them, so it should be pretty easy to see. Others have already given better advice than I could on when to pray the hours.

From what I understand, and I could be wrong, iBreviary is far superior to Laudete’s LOTH. First of all, Laudate requires an internet connection every time you use its LOTH. iBreviary you can download an entire week at a time. iBreviary is definitely more aesthetically pleasing. And probably most important, iBreviary is using the official English translation, while Laudete does not. That’s not meant to hate on Laudate, otherwise it’s great app.

The LOTH can look intimidating, but it’s really quite doable. I’ve worked myself up to praying morning, midday, evening, and compline most days. All on iBreviary so far. I’d like like a physical copy, but it’s not in the budget right now. Especially with all the other awesome catholic resources to buy!
 
Roseeurekacross said:
Some questions
A)
In the app there is something called
  1. Commons
    2.Office of Readings
    What are they?
B)
For the Morning Prayer for Sunday 5 March
Then 4 Psalms (choose 1 Psalm)
Then 2 Hymns (choose 1 Hymn)
Then Psalmsody
Then Reading
Then Responsory
Then Gospel Canticle
Then Intercessions
Then Lord’s Prayer
Then Concluding Prayer
Then Dismissal

Are all of those included in the Morning Prayer or are there choices to be made on which Psalm or Hymn etc are prayed?
Click to expand...
The iBreviary lists various options.

For the Morning Prayer for Sunday 5 March
If the Morning Prayer is your first “hour” of the day, then include the Invitatory…
Then 4 Psalms (choose 1 Psalm, usually Psalm 95, and choose 1 Antiphon to say before and repeat after the Psalm)
(Note: Then skip: God, + come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.)
Then 2 Hymns (choose 1 Hymn)
Then Psalmsody
Then Reading
Then Responsory
Then Gospel Canticle
Then Intercessions
Then Lord’s Prayer
Then Concluding Prayer
Then Dismissal

If the Morning Prayer is not your first “hour” of the day, then skip the Invitatory…
Begin with:God, + come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Then 2 Hymns (choose 1 Hymn)
Then Psalmsody
Then Reading
Then Responsory
Then Gospel Canticle
Then Intercessions
Then Lord’s Prayer
Then Concluding Prayer
Then Dismissal
 
Roseeurekacross said:
2.Office of Readings
?
Click to expand...
The Office of Readings is an “hour” that can be said any time of the day or night.

To my previous post I just wanted to add…
When you say the Invitatory at the beginning of your first “hour,” remember to begin with:
Lord, + open my lips.
– And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
 
Reading the General Instruction for the Liturgy of the Hours will be of immense value. Read the whole thing, including the more “theological” portions at the beginning. There will still be a few procedural questions but I am completely convinced that I would have benefitted immensely had I taken the time to read it when I was first starting LOTH.

liturgyoffice.org.uk/Resources/Rites/GILH.pdf
 
I have the Laudate app. My “method” is to open the Liturgy of the Hours when I have time and read as much from that day as I can before I need to move on to other things. I don’t use this as the backbone of my prayer life, but the readings and prayers are beautiful and uplifting, therefore worthwhile when I can fit them in. Good thing I’m not a priest or religious.
 
Col103 said:
The LOTH can look intimidating, but it’s really quite doable. I’ve worked myself up to praying morning, midday, evening, and compline most days. All on iBreviary so far. I’d like like a physical copy, but it’s not in the budget right now. Especially with all the other awesome catholic resources to buy!
Click to expand...
Here is the most recent English translation of the LofH – the one volume contains Morning, Daytime, Evening and Night Prayer. It costs $25.

e.paulinesafrica.org/index.php/book/bookDetails/851

If you’d prefer the four volume set, and you’d rather use the current US edition, you stretch the cost over a year if you buy only the book you need for the season you’re in.
 
Magdalen2013 said:
Here is the most recent English translation of the LofH – the one volume contains Morning, Daytime, Evening and Night Prayer. It costs $25.

e.paulinesafrica.org/index.php/book/bookDetails/851

If you’d prefer the four volume set, and you’d rather use the current US edition, you stretch the cost over a year if you buy only the book you need for the season you’re in.
Click to expand...
It appears the only reason that is so economical is that it is in Kenya. By the time you pay for shipping, not so much. I would how they fit all that in one volume though.

I was looking again, and the four volume set isn’t as bad price wise as I had thought. And splitting up the purchase is a great idea, thank you.
 
Col103 said:
And splitting up the purchase is a great idea, thank you.
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s how I acquired my French set: one volume at a time. I’m in the process of acquiring a UK/Ireland English set the same way. In fact, about half the people I know who pray the LOTH from the full breviary bought their set volume by volume. It makes the expense easier from a cash flow perspective. 👍
 
Col103 said:
It appears the only reason that is so economical is that it is in Kenya. By the time you pay for shipping, not so much. I would how they fit all that in one volume though.

I was looking again, and the four volume set isn’t as bad price wise as I had thought. And splitting up the purchase is a great idea, thank you.
Click to expand...
The shipping wasn’t bad – I chose to have it mailed, I think it came out to being about the same as buying the one volume CBC Christian Prayer.

Prayer of the Church covers Morning, Daytime, Evening and Night Prayer. It leaves out The Office of Readings. The layout is: The Proper of the Seasons, The Ordinary, The Four Week Psalter, Night Prayer, Ordinary Time, Proper of the Saints, Commons, Office of the Dead.
 
Roseeurekacross said:
Some questions
A)
In the app there is something called
  1. Commons
    2.Office of Readings
    What are they?
B)
For the Morning Prayer for Sunday 5 March
It starts with the Invitatory
Then 4 Psalms
Then 2 Hymns
Then Psalmsody
Then Reading
Then Responsory
Then Gospel Canticle
Then Intercessions
Then Lord’s Prayer
Then Concluding Prayer
Then Dismissal

Are all of those included in the Morning Prayer or are there choices to be made on which Psalm or Hymn etc are prayed?
Click to expand...
Great answers already posted. I’m not familiar with the app.

my answers to your question reiterate a lot of what’s already been said.
  • Commons are used on feasts, solemnities etc. For example, the Common of Priests is used for St. Patrick. The Common of Martyrs
  • Office of Readings: as mentioned, are one of the Hours.
    The “Hours” are the prayer sessions, for lack of a better description. There are 5 of them. (7 if you split Daytime Prayer into the 3 different hours, as there were traditionally 7 Hours.)
  1. Office of Readings: The longest of the Hours. traditionally said in the middle of the night/ wee hours of the morning as the first Hour of the day, but can be said at any time. My favorite part of these are the Second Readings, which are usually a letter or sermon taken from the Church Fathers, church documents, or other similar figures and sources.
  2. Morning Prayer: Said in the morning, when you wake up for the day.
  3. Daytime Prayer: Said during the work-day sometime. You could pray them at mid-morning, midday, or afternoon…or all three if you want 7 Hours.
  4. Evening Prayer: Said in the evening, we usually pray them right before dinner.
  5. Night Prayer: said in the late evening or before you go to bed. Fairly short and simple.
Morning and Evening Prayer are the kind of the primary Hours, or the “two hinges of the day” as the literature describes it. For Laity, If you’re going to keep it simple, I suggest just doing those two “hinges” MP & EP…or if you want to start out even more simply, just start off with Night Prayer to get used to the format, then add the Morning and Evening Prayers. I wouldn’t worry about the Office of Readings, unless you’re looking for something to do, like adding something during Lent if developing a routine for MP and EP isn’t enough . I DO however, recommend checking out the readings in the OOR, in particular the Second Reading for some spiritual reading that you may not be exposed to otherwise.
  • The general structure for Morning and Evening Prayer are what you listed above:
    Hymn
    Psalmsody
    Reading
    Responsory
    Gospel Canticle
    Intercessions
    Lord’s Prayer
    Concluding Prayer
    Dismissal
The other hours will have some deviations from that. The first Hour you pray in a day normally begins with an Invitatory Psalm. The Hymn is your choice as well, but usually has something to do with the season, feast, etc just like the hymns at mass. Choice of invitatory is more or less limited to specific psalms. It looks like they make the choice of hymn easier by offering suggestions. Gospel Canticles are always the same, but don’t feel bad if you want to sing a hymn version for the Magnificat rather then recite the usual canticle on an important day. It’s up to you if you want to read the psalm-prayers. Finally, after reading the intercessions, but before the Lord’s Prayer feel free to add prayers for your own intentions.
 
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