Liturgy of the Hours

[shawnbm]

I have Benedictine Daily Prayer–A Short Breviary and I have been trying to follow how to do the daily prayers. Yet, when I pray lauds, terce, sext, none, vespers and compline, I am confused by the part that is called the Ordinary of the Liturgy of the Hours versus what is set forth in the section called the Weekly Psalter on each of day of the week. Do I go to both sections and pray them at sext, none or whatever time of day it is? I get the impression I am to pray one or the other, but not both. I have read the introduction, but I think I need to be led through it by someone who knows. There is a lot of reading of certain Psalms, with antiphons. I enjoy it but think I may not be getting the full benefit of the breviary. thank you.

 

[Columba_Tom]

Hang on…
Are you trying to do the whole lot? I found the Office grew on me. From saying morning prayer with a group once a week, I now really want to keep the hours as much as I can.

If you are a beginner with the Hours, start with Morning and/or Evening Prayer, (Matins and Vespers). This will establish rhythm.

There is a guide here:

sacredpause.org/IntroBDP.pdf

Good luck! The world prays with you, like one giant wheel of prayer!

 

[aemcpa]

Hang on…
Are you trying to do the whole lot? I found the Office grew on me. From saying morning prayer with a group once a week, I now really want to keep the hours as much as I can.

If you are a beginner with the Hours, start with Morning and/or Evening Prayer, (Matins and Vespers). This will establish rhythm.

There is a guide here:

sacredpause.org/IntroBDP.pdf

Good luck! The world prays with you, like one giant wheel of prayer!

*Lauds = Morning Prayer
Matins = Office of Readings

 

[aemcpa]

I have Benedictine Daily Prayer–A Short Breviary and I have been trying to follow how to do the daily prayers. Yet, when I pray lauds, terce, sext, none, vespers and compline, I am confused by the part that is called the Ordinary of the Liturgy of the Hours versus what is set forth in the section called the Weekly Psalter on each of day of the week. Do I go to both sections and pray them at sext, none or whatever time of day it is? I get the impression I am to pray one or the other, but not both. I have read the introduction, but I think I need to be led through it by someone who knows. There is a lot of reading of certain Psalms, with antiphons. I enjoy it but think I may not be getting the full benefit of the breviary. thank you.

The Ordinary is the structure of each hour, and contains the parts of each hour that are the same from day to day. The Proper of the Seasons and the Weekly Psalter provide the changeable parts for each day. The Ordinary will tell you at certain points “at this point, read the psalm appointed in the psalter for the day” or “reading of the day per the Proper of saints or proper of seasons or common of whatever”.

 

[Fairwinds]

Hang on…
Are you trying to do the whole lot? I found the Office grew on me. From saying morning prayer with a group once a week, I now really want to keep the hours as much as I can.

If you are a beginner with the Hours, start with Morning and/or Evening Prayer, (Matins and Vespers). This will establish rhythm.

There is a guide here:

sacredpause.org/IntroBDP.pdf

Good luck! The world prays with you, like one giant wheel of prayer!

I second this advice. its a discipline to grow into. I manage the Office of Readings/Morning Prayer and Night Prayer. don’t ever let it become a chore.

 

[OraLabora]

I second this advice. its a discipline to grow into. I manage the Office of Readings/Morning Prayer and Night Prayer. don’t ever let it become a chore.

This is true, however there have been times when it did seem like a chore, but I forced myself to do it, and it turned out to be a very special moment. I think the best is to establish a balance that works for you (which prayers to do that fits best with your lifestyle and obligations) and then stick with it through thick and thin. A frequent mistake (I know I’ve guilty) is to try to bite off more than you can chew, and that can be discouraging. Overdoing it at the beginning should be avoided.

Even though I’m attracted to a couple of monastic versions, including the one the abbey I’m an oblate of uses, they’re too much for me at the moment given my work schedule, long commute, etc. So I use the current 4-volume LOTH which works for me, and allows me to do the Offices at a relaxed pace, taking time to meditate the psalms.

Since doing that I’ve rarely had to miss an Office.

 

[Fairwinds]

]
This is true, however there have been times when it did seem like a chore, but I forced myself to do it, and it turned out to be a very special moment.

I think the best is to establish a balance that works for you (which prayers to do that fits best with your lifestyle and obligations) and then stick with it through thick and thin. A frequent mistake (I know I’ve guilty) is to try to bite off more than you can chew, and that can be discouraging. Overdoing it at the beginning should be avoided.

Even though I’m attracted to a couple of monastic versions, including the one the abbey I’m an oblate of uses, they’re too much for me at the moment given my work schedule, long commute, etc. So I use the current 4-volume LOTH which works for me, and allows me to do the Offices at a relaxed pace, taking time to meditate the psalms.

Since doing that I’ve rarely had to miss an Office.

that’s an interesting perspective, that’s how discipline and habit are born. it took me a long time to get comfortable with the rubrics and instructions so that it was prayer rather than page turning. if I’d tried to stay the entire Office at the onset, I’d have quit.

how many Hours do you manage a day?

 

[JamTKD]

I have a “Christian Prayer” and I love it. It has a 4-week cycle of Morning/Evening prayer from liturgy of the hours, special sections for the seasons or feast days of saints, hymns, readings etc. It’s also 1/4 of the price of a full liturgy of the hours set

 

[OraLabora]

that’s an interesting perspective, that’s how discipline and habit are born. it took me a long time to get comfortable with the rubrics and instructions so that it was prayer rather than page turning. if I’d tried to stay the entire Office at the onset, I’d have quit.

how many Hours do you manage a day?

As an oblate I take my inspiration from monks for whom the Liturgy of the Hours is their job. Good day, bad day, sunny day, rainy day, the monks are there on the job unless they are ill and even then usually another monk will sit with an ill monk and recite the LOTH in the infirmary with him. I try to share in this vocation as much as I can. I did try to use their office for a long time and it worked when, for a number of years, I had a home-based job. But now that I commute a lot again, that Office was too long (150 psalms per week) I’ve reverted to the 4-week Roman LOTH. The trick is to find a balance that works, and stick to it. It can be doing only two offices a day of a monastic schema, or two of the 4-week LOTH, or the whole thing, as your life can accommodate, but then try to make it a discipline.

I can say, in doing so, that there are huge spiritual benefits to reap. But again it’s important not to overdo it. Balance in life’s values (spirituality, work, rest, recreation, nutrition) is a Benedictine virtue, and as we aren’t all monks we have to adapt.

 

[shawnbm]

Thank you for your insight, OraLabora. I have followed what you wrote on another thread about the LOTH and find it all quite helpful. I am slowly learning how to pray from the Benedictine Daily Prayer–A Short Breviary and am enjoying it–when I can do it. As you rightly say, one must have balance and I have two kids and a wife that I must consider as well. Peace.