Liturgy of the Hours

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I was thinking of buying the three or four volume set of the Liturgy of the hours.
They aren’t cheap. Amazon is selling the set for I believe $150.
All the reviews on Amazon say it’s better to spend the money and purchase the books in leather.
I am a subscriber to Magnificat, and I read the hours on line.
Do any of you own the Liturgy of the hours I am speaking of?
 
yes but as a gift from my brother, who now prays the hours in Latin. I would never have afforded it on my own, but did spring for Christian Prayer. I learned with Shorter Christian Prayer, which we use as Benedictine Oblates, and that is still what I carry when I travel and heartily recommend anyone wanting to learn to begin with SCP for at least a year to form the firm habit before making a bigger investment.

It is my understanding that with revisions to the Missal there may also be revisions to the LOTH in the works, so that may be another reason to wait.

I love Magnificat and used it for many years, which fostered the love for morning and evening prayer. It has everything and if I were travelling as much I would still get it.
 
I have the four volume set in leather. I purchased the leather because I wanted my four volumes in all black, and leather is cool.

It is pretty much the best thing I have done for my spiritual life since my conversion, although the FULL Divine Office is difficult for me to pray (Since I work between 60 and 80 hours a week [almost as much as a SAHM]) but I do what I can when I can and it is absolutely tremendous for me. I like the 4 volume set better than SCP and CP even if it is only for the Office of readings in the four volumes.

FSC
 
I have the 4-volume set both in French and in Latin. I also have the 3-volume “Les Heures Grégoriennes” which is a 3-volume diurnal antiphonary with all the Gregorian hymns, antiphons and responsories for the Liturgy of the Hours daytime hours. That could only be bought as a set for 200 euros…

Have you considered spreading out the cost?

Initially spring for Volume 1 (which has the General Instructions, however you can find that on-line) and whatever volume is current for the liturgical time you’re in (Lent & Easter).

If you get the General Instructions on-line you can spread the cost of the 4 volumes throughout the year. Get Lent/Easter now, get the first set of Ordinary Time just before Pentecost, get the last volume of OT just before it kicks in near the end of the summer and get Advent/Christmas in November. It certainly makes it easier to digest! That’s how I did it.
 
OraLabora said:
Have you considered spreading out the cost?

Initially spring for Volume 1 (which has the General Instructions, however you can find that on-line) and whatever volume is current for the liturgical time you’re in (Lent & Easter).

If you get the General Instructions on-line you can spread the cost of the 4 volumes throughout the year. Get Lent/Easter now, get the first set of Ordinary Time just before Pentecost, get the last volume of OT just before it kicks in near the end of the summer and get Advent/Christmas in November. It certainly makes it easier to digest! That’s how I did it.
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Exactly what I did, too! 🙂

I love the LOH for a plethora of reasons,
My top 3-
  1. The Office of Readings- it’s a great way to get an introduction to a wide cross-section of writings from Church Fathers.
  2. There is something soothing about the “rythmic nature” of praying the psalms
  3. I feel connected to a “larger community”- no matter what time it is when I am doing a particular hour, somewhere some one else is also praying the “hours”, so I am “connected” with them in prayer.:grouphug:
I highly encourage this form of prayer. It has helped me in ways I never thought possible!
I will grant you- the volumes are expensive, and leather is best because of the use they get, but they are worth every penny!👍
 
I got mine…believe it or not…from Walmart online, which was the least expensive that I found for the leather-bound 4 volume set.

Also, check eBay; occasionally there’s a good used set available.
 
I have both the one-volume and the four-volume LOH. Frankly, I was not able to pray the Office of Readings daily, so I had everything I needed in the one-volume edition. If you are going to pray some, but not all, of the liturgical hours – such as Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer – I suggest buying the one-volume edition. Leather or non-leather? Up to you.
 
Just get the leather… You won’t regret it.

BTW, the latin LOTH in leather roughly costs about $150 PER volume (4-volume set)…

Consider yourself lucky that for the same price, you’re getting all 4 volumes of the English leather LOTH.
 
For whatever it is worth: if you are moving from the Magnificat to a fuller expression of the LOTH, you might want to consider breaking into it gradually.

I happen to have the 4 volume set because it was given to me. However, I could get along fine with just the one volume Christian Prayer, and for a long time I got along just fine with Shorter Christian Prayer.

If you are going to say Lauds, Vespers and Compline and that is all, Shorter Christian Prayer will do just fine. I would suggest going into it gradually, finding how your time plays into the issue, and how you like reciting it. Investing in the 4 volume set before you have several years under your belt and can really evaluate how often, and how regularly you will pray the Hours seems a bit of getting the cart before the horse.

I was in college seminary, and we used Shorter Christian Prayer daily (I was there 2 years), and I used it later for quite some time before I got the larger Christian Prayer. And given that I cannot devote the time to all the hours, having the 4 volume set now is not a necessity.

And a word to the wise; be careful of not encouraging a bit of spiritual pride. Just a thought.
 
I would suggest buying the four-volume set in leather. It is a great prayer and well worth the money.
 
OraLabora said:
I have the 4-volume set both in French and in Latin. I also have the 3-volume “Les Heures Grégoriennes” which is a 3-volume diurnal antiphonary with all the Gregorian hymns, antiphons and responsories for the Liturgy of the Hours daytime hours. That could only be bought as a set for 200 euros…
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Where do you get that? I’m interested in having a Latin set and sheet music.
 
JesuXPIPassio said:
Where do you get that? I’m interested in having a Latin set and sheet music.
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The first run of Les Heures has run out, but you can check in here and sign up to express interest for a second printing: communautesaintmartin.org/spip.php?article93

The 4-volume Latin set without music can be had here:

paxbook.com

Other sources for music would be

solesmes.com which has the Liber Hymnarius, the hymns for both the Roman and Monastic offices (in Latin). Also they have just released the second volume of the new Roman Antiphonary (the Hymnarius was the first). It contains all that you need to chant Vespers on Sundays, feasts and solemnities. I haven’t seen it yet though so I don’t know how user-friendly it is. Les Heures Grégoriennes is very user-friendly for chanting.

Les Heures also has the French alongside the Latin if that’s of any interest. It is to me as French is my first language and my “other” liturgical language (after Latin).
 
The cheapest place to get the Divine Office is online - in the near future as I’m in the process of putting the Divine Office into electronic format, then making it freely available for PCs, PDAs, mobile phones etc. If anyone is interested in giving a hand let me know at: freecatholic@hotmail.co.uk It’s better to use the official text
 
catolictechyguy said:
The cheapest place to get the Divine Office is online - in the near future as I’m in the process of putting the Divine Office into electronic format, then making it freely available for PCs, PDAs, mobile phones etc. If anyone is interested in giving a hand let me know at: freecatholic@hotmail.co.uk It’s better to use the official text
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Do you know the text is copywrited, at least here in the US. Better make sure you have permission before you go putting it out on the net for free.
 
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