Liturgy of the Hours

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What does one need to pray the Liturgy of the Hours? Is there any resource that sings or chants all the prayers? Is it hard to get started (how do I know which day to start on)?
 
To be honest, I find it incredibly difficult to explain the LOTH in written words. I wish I could be of more help, therefore, than in merely giving you a few resources. But I do think those resources will help somewhat, and so I want to share them with you.

First of all, here’s an interesting audio presentation on the subject: instituteofcatholicculture.org/praying-constantly/.

One of the great things about that resource is that it will give you some common tones/melodies for the prayers. Off the top of my head, I’m not aware of anything else that will do that. Since you’re considering Catholicism, I’d recommend the rest of the website to you as well. It’s an excellent educational resource that I’m sure would be of great use to Protestants too.

Also of use might be iBreviary, which presents the prayers of each hour in a straightforward manner: ibreviary.org/en/tools/ibreviary-web.html.

I personally recommend using something like iBreviary to help you get a feel for each hour. See, everything follows a particular formula. I personally think it’s easiest when you get a feel for the finished product before trying to sort out how to follow the formula. 🙂

Also, just a word of encouragement. I think the LOTH is mostly a lot easier than folks often make it out to be. In fact, in the audio link I gave you, the presenter is consistently talking about the difficulty of the LOTH. I just disagree. I think a person does have to learn how to use it, but it is pretty straightforward the vast majority of the time. 🙂

Finally, a piece of advice. The LOTH comes in four volumes. Unless you just absolutely want to buy all four at once, it’s a good idea to buy one at a time based on when you need to use it.
 
Jennifer132 said:
What does one need to pray the Liturgy of the Hours? Is there any resource that sings or chants all the prayers? Is it hard to get started (how do I know which day to start on)?
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As Polyphony mentioned, there are some great online resources that will present the hours in a complete and straightforward manner. divineoffice.org is another great website. On that website and on the phone app you can also play it, and they read it sometimes chant it, and the hymns are sung if you want to listen or pray it along with them. That website will also tell you what day and what week we’re on.

There are many places to begin though. The websites have the complete Liturgy of the Hours, but if you prefer a book, I’d also recommend “Shorter Christian Prayer” to start (amazon.com/Shorter-Christian-Prayer-Four-Week-Containing/dp/0899424082/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461680745&sr=1-1&keywords=shorter+christian+prayer). It’s just the morning and evening prayers, and slightly simplified (i.e. not as many seasonal readings, so less page turning). It’s a good way to get the feel of it, develop a rhythm, and see if it’ll be a habit you can keep and worth spending money on the big 4-volume set. “Cristian Prayer” is kind of a middle ground, it’s also one volume, contains more hours than just morning and evening, and has more of the seasonal stuff.

For both Christian Prayer and the 4-Volume set, there is a printed resource that tells you the readings and pages for each day. It’s published yearly, and I keep it tucked in my breviary.
As for instructions, every breviary will have some instructions in it, called the “ordinary” in the table of contents. The USCCB also publishes the “General Instruction to the Liturgy of the Hours”. There are lots of instructional books on it out there as well, and I’m sure some folks will have some good recommendations. After a day or two, you should have the hang of it. You can also see if a local priest can show you in person.
 
I would strongly recommend divineoffice.org for the U.S. They have audio and you can follow along. After a while, you pick up the rhythm.

The phone app may be going away, temporarily, due to licensing issues. Get it now at a discount if you’re so inclined.

Also, I like this hard-copy, which has all the info you need to get started with a basic lay approach:
catholicbookpublishing.com/products/100
 
Polyphony said:
Also, just a word of encouragement. I think the LOTH is mostly a lot easier than folks often make it out to be. In fact, in the audio link I gave you, the presenter is consistently talking about the difficulty of the LOTH. I just disagree. I think a person does have to learn how to use it, but it is pretty straightforward the vast majority of the time. 🙂

Finally, a piece of advice. The LOTH comes in four volumes. Unless you just absolutely want to buy all four at once, it’s a good idea to buy one at a time based on when you need to use it.
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Agreed on all counts. The Liturgy of the Hours is NOT difficult.

As for whether one ought to buy the four volumes, it really depends on one question: does one want to pray the Office of Readings? If no, then Christian Prayer will do just fine, and quite frankly, for the layman who would most likely stick to Lauds, Vespers and Compline, Christian Prayer is complete. If one wants to fit Daytime Prayer in, CBPC now publishes a separate “Daytime Prayer” book as well, which I think is quite slim.

But I echo the encouragement: the LOTH is not difficult. Yes, there is some learning involved, but that’s true for anything worth doing well.

And I have said it before, but this is purely personal. I do not go for apps where the LOTH is concerned, only books (as far as I’m able of course, i.e. I will use an app, but only if absolutely necessary).
 
I pray Morning and Evening and Night Prayer offices daily. As others have done, I also encourage you to get either Christian Prayer and/or Shorter Christian Prayer. The latter is enough for the average lay person who wants to begin and end the day praying the prayer of the Church. Religious and some lay orders and confraternities pray the whole Divine Office, but that’s not expected for everyone else.

Websites, such as divineoffice.org are fine–I use it liberally, but there is something special about getting alone with one of the books for some private time with God. There are supplements for CP that can also be used for SCP, if needed. It also helps to have someone who prays it regularly guide you in using the books until you can fly solo. I always recommend the LOTH to everyone, Catholics and non-Catholics alike since it’s praying the Psalms, as David did, and it connects us to other Christians around the world who are also praying it, not to mention with the Church, of course.
 
My wife and myself used the single volume, Christian Prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, for years, as being Discalced Carmelites, OCDS, we had to pray morning and evening prayer everyday as part of our rule of life.

This volume works for these two hours with the four volume set fine.

However, it doesn’t have the complete Office of the Reading like the four volume set has,

That being said, most people don’t have time for the Office of the Reading anyway, and beginners do well with just the Christian Prayer version.

Also a thing to keep in mind, we’re probably just five years away from getting a new translation of the LOTH’s, which will match the new translation of the Mass.

So, investing $120 plus now for a four volume set, may not be a good idea.

Jim
 
Jennifer132 said:
What does one need to pray the Liturgy of the Hours? Is there any resource that sings or chants all the prayers? Is it hard to get started (how do I know which day to start on)?
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First, you need a copy of Christian Prayer – this is the one volume version of the LotH.*

If you don’t want to invest in a book, and you have a computer, smartphone or tablet, there are apps and websites, my favorite is divineoffice.org.

I’d suggest beginning with Night Prayer, it’s the shortest of the hours and the one with the least moving parts. Once you’re comfortable doing that, THEN add Morning Prayer, and then Evening Prayer.

*(I’d advise getting the one volume, Christian Prayer from Pauline Media, you can order the most recent English edition: e.paulinesafrica.org/index.php/book/bookDetails/851)
 
I would recommend starting with the iBreviary app first. Its easy and its free. Once you know if the prayer style works for you and you achieve some consistency in praying it, then spring for the book(s).

It is a lot easier to use the books on your own once you are familiar with the rhythm and sequence of the prayers. I use the app most of the time as I say 5-7 hrs a day and I am usually only home for 2 of them (Matins/Office and Night/Compline).

Neither the app or the 4 volume have music to accompany the songs. I make up my own tunes a lot of the time. Only God and me know that though 🙂
 
Deditus_Domina said:
Neither the app or the 4 volume have music to accompany the songs. I make up my own tunes a lot of the time. Only God and me know that though 🙂
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When in doubt, a lot of the hymns in the LofH scan to Old 100 (Praise God from whom all blessings flow) and ‘O God of Loveliness’ (a/k/a “Fairest Lord Jesus”) and I’ve found a few that work to “Ode to Joy.”

There are a few that I recognize the tune to, but not many (I converted to Catholicism and love reciting the Divine Office, and one of these days I’m going to learn the psalm tones.)
 
If you want to get started with singing/chanting the Liturgy of the Hours, it’s hard to beat the Mundelein Psalter. This is a complete set of Morning and Evening Prayer with very simple chant settings. There’s a bit to learn and a some skills to acquire but it’s not too difficult.

Note, however, that this resource does not use modern musical notation. It uses Gregorian notation. Personally, I find Gregorian notation easier to follow than modern notation. And this is a very gentle introduction. Overall, this is an excellent resource for learning.

ltp.org/p-1536-the-mundelein-psalter.aspx

Hymn samples and samples of the psalm tones can be found here.
web.archive.org/web/20120901140325/http://www.usml.edu/liturgicalinstitute/projects/psalter/psalter%20audio%20files.htm

Other resources you might find helpful
 
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