Liturgy of the Hours vs Rosary

[SMHW]

I understand that the Rosary originally developed as a way for the common people to pray along with the Liturgy of the Hours. Just about anyone could say a rosary but most people didn’t have access to the prayers and readings for the Liturgy of the Hours.

Today, many Catholics do have prayer books and can pray Liturgy of the Hours. Assuming time is not an issue, then is there any preference as to whether an individual should pray the Liturgy of the Hours or the Rosary? Is it ‘redundant’ to pray both in a given day? Or have both forms of prayer become sufficiently distinct that it doesn’t make sense to compare them?

 

[akemner]

While it is commonly held that the rosary developed as a stand in for the Hours (given illiteracy, lack of access to books &c), i would say that, if that were the case (and i do not think it is), they have certainly departed ways and are sufficiently unlike to not compare. The LotH and the Rosary developed parallel to each other, and properly fill different aspects of Christian worship-the former communial worship and praise, the latter a matrix within which private meditation can flourish. Of course this presupposes the LotH to be the common gathering of the Christians throughout the day (according to very early Church Canons, the Faithful were to gather twice a day to offer the Divine Praises-hearing the Word of God, singing Psalms and Hymns, listening to teachings; this is to be done in the morning and evening), and not a private prayer for clergy (which the Breviary is) or anyone else. Liturgy entails *public *service, which means that two or more are to be gathered. In earlier forms, the LotH facilitated this participation with minimal use of books, so that the people could participate without needing them (which is why there developed so many different orders of clergy, particularly of Minor Orders-they took care of the parts that do require books). The Rosary, of course, does not by its intrinsic nature require more than one person, but in all things being equal, provides balance against private-book prayer, which in turns needs to be balanced against common prayer (though in the West, meditation was an important part of Liturgy, the LotH moreso than the Mass, even from the early days). There really needs to be a balance of all these things in a person’s prayer-life.

In Christ,
Adam

 

[LaVada]

Hummmm

All might want to check out CCC 1174. Liturgy of the hours is for all of us and is the “public prayer of the Church”. The Rosary has been championed most recently by our own Pope John Paul II, so much so. that we have a most wonderful new set of meditations. The Holy Father says both according to those who know him. It seems that we have time for “everything” else so we might want to examine our priorities. If he has time we might do well to imitate him.
Queen of the Rosary, pray for us.
Peace on earth to men of good will.
LaVada