LOTH Closing Prayers

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Gaudium86

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Hello all,

I am a big fan of the new English translation of the Mass coming this Fall. I plan to substitute the relevant Collect from the new Missal (leaked here: wikispooks.com/wiki/Template:USMissal) for the LOTH closing prayer where possible when I pray the LOTH in private. (For those who don’t know, the closing prayer of the LOTH is often taken from the Collect printed in the Missal for the day’s Mass.)

This plan works well for the Propers of Saints and Seasons. As far as I can tell, however, the closing prayers for the 4-week psalter seem to have no analog in the Missal. Has anyone translated these prayers in private? If so, are you willing to share. . .? 😉

Many thanks!
 
Good idea to use the new Collects in the LotH, but for Ordinary weekdays, I would just continue to use the current prayers, since it does not seem like they have analogues in the Mass.
 
porthos11 said:
I for one will use the prayers as printed in the Breviary until the Liturgy of the Hours is retranslated.
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That’s fine, but from what’s I’ve read here and on other sites, you’ll probably be waiting until around 2020. Since I’m not a cleric who’s obligated to say the LOTH, I have no problem using the new prayers. For that matter, I find the psalm prayers to be bad to the point they distract me, so I skip them. (Of course, that is explicitly permitted by the General Instruction of the LOTH 112, which speaks of them as a “supplement”.)

I think I’ve found my answer in Fr. Peter Stravinskas’ book “Lauds and Vespers” (amazon.com/Lauds-Vespers-Latin-English-Enlarged-English/dp/0970402295/ref=sr_1_19?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300194895&sr=1-19). The book includes the Latin text of the LOTH next to what seems to be a faithful (but unofficial) English translation.
 
Gaudium86 said:
That’s fine, but from what’s I’ve read here and on other sites, you’ll probably be waiting until around 2020. Since I’m not a cleric who’s obligated to say the LOTH, I have no problem using the new prayers. For that matter, I find the psalm prayers to be bad to the point they distract me, so I skip them. (Of course, that is explicitly permitted by the General Instruction of the LOTH 112, which speaks of them as a “supplement”.)

I think I’ve found my answer in Fr. Peter Stravinskas’ book “Lauds and Vespers” (amazon.com/Lauds-Vespers-Latin-English-Enlarged-English/dp/0970402295/ref=sr_1_19?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300194895&sr=1-19). The book includes the Latin text of the LOTH next to what seems to be a faithful (but unofficial) English translation.
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I don’t feel it really matters that I’m not a cleric where the Office is concerned; I’m a layman myself under no obligation. Yet my intention is to pray the Liturgy of the Hours as offered by the Church in English. As liturgy, as with Mass, it is therefore not mine to mess with. My own opinions about the translations are irrelevant.
 
porthos11 said:
I don’t feel it really matters that I’m not a cleric where the Office is concerned; I’m a layman myself under no obligation. Yet my intention is to pray the Liturgy of the Hours as offered by the Church in English. As liturgy, as with Mass, it is therefore not mine to mess with. My own opinions about the translations are irrelevant.
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That’s fine for you. Yet many Catholics on this Forum find the current English translation of the LOTH inadequate and substitute something completely different in its place - the Mundelein Psalter, the Anglican Breviary, and any number of pre-1955 breviaries.

Because they are not clerics, laypeople can use these texts as the basis for their personal devotions. I’m in the same situation: I love the Psalms and find praying them in the LOTH format meaningful. The current ICEL prayers make that prayer less meaningful for me, so I’m simply substituting some new Church-approved language for some old Church-approved language. Because I’m not a cleric obliged to participate in the official prayer of the Church, there’s nothing wrong with me doing so.

You obviously value the LOTH as a means of participating in the official prayer of the Church. I value it as inspiration for my personal prayer.

In the words of Fr. Z in a post from last fall: “Since you are a layman without the obligation to recite any office, you are free to do as it pleases you to do. Use this book or that. Say it all, or a little, or none at all.”
 
OK, I don’t understand.

How does the new English translation of the Mass have anything to do with the closing prayers of the LOTH?

Can you provide an example?

Jim
 
Jim,

On days when the LOTH closing prayer is taken from the Proper of the Saints or the Proper of the Seasons, the closing prayer is the same as the Collect prayed before the First Reading at Mass.

Thus, the Church recognizes today as Tuesday in the First Week of Lent. The LOTH proper closing prayer for today is:

Father,
look on us, you children.
Through the discipline of Lent
help us to grow in our desire for you.
We as this through our Lord Jesus Christ, you son. . .

The Collect at today’s Mass printed in the priest’s Sacramentary is the exact same prayer.

Since the prayers are the same, and I like the new translation better than the old, I plan to use the new Collects, where applicable, in place of the printed LOTH closing prayer in my own prayer. A new re-translated LOTH has not been released, however, and probably won’t be for a number of years.

FWIW, here’s today’s closing prayer in the new translation:

Look upon your family, Lord,
that, through the chastening effects of bodily discipline,
our minds may be radiant in your presence
with the strength of our yearning for you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
 
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