LOTH Vs The Rosary, Marian Concecration Edition)

[manonthemoon]

I would like advice. I have Concecrated myself to Jesus through Mary, but I fell off the prayer wagon and have had a hard time starting back up. Recently I have felt called to start praying the Liturgy of the hours. I am enjoying them, but have a hard enough time fitting them into my day. I have given up (for now) saying the rosary. This is only a time issue, does anyone have any advice to offer? Thanks,

MoM

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

Perhaps you could pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a much shorter version of the Divine Office but is just as much a prayer of the Church, and it has a partial indulgence for each hour. There is an online version here for you to check out under “Parvum B.M.V.”. The Little Office on this site is older than the 1961 edition that I use (by one year), but it’s just about the same. This should give you some more time so that you could fit in the Rosary.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

I fell off the prayer wagon

What a great line! I am going to steal that.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Make time to pray, is the advise I give.

As far as the LOTH’s, keep in mind that the Breviary is Designed to be said in groups, so when done individually, a little modification should be made.

Most important is that you do not need to sing or say the words of the hymns,

These can be eliminated when praying by yourself.

Also, just focus on saying Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer for now.

Both only take about 10 minutes each.

If the LOTH’s are too confusing for your right now, then pray the Rosary.

Either way, make the time. You will not grow spiritually without prayer.

Jim

 

[Catholic4Christ]

Most important is that you do not need to sing or say the words of the hymns,

These can be eliminated when praying by yourself.

(Liturgically speaking) is this actually the case? I hear that the hymns are “optional” a lot in the LOTH, and they get left out a lot even in public non-sung recitation (even with priests present!), but I don’t think the General Instructions says they’re optional. They weren’t optional in the pre-LOTH breviaries to be sure, but were considered a critical part of the liturgical act. The modern LOTH does allow for a lot of variation of hymns based on personal preference, though I wish the hymns in the American LOTH corresponded to those in the official Latin text…

That being said, the OP is free to adapt the LOTH however they want, as they are (I assume) not bound to pray the Office.

OP, I try to pray both the Office and the Rosary daily when I’m able. I’d start easy if I were you, though. Maybe stick to Morning Prayer (Lauds) and Evening Prayer (Vespers) for the time being, and squeeze in just one or two decades of the Rosary in. One possibility: Monday-Saturday pray just Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer and two decades per day. Then to add some extra Sunday prayer, maybe squeeze in Midday Prayer or Night Prayer, and three decades. Two decades Monday-Saturday + Three decades Sunday would take you through all fifteen mysteries, and adding some extra hours of the Office on Sunday would link you more closely to the Church’s liturgy on the Lord’s Day. Whatever works for your personal piety, of course.

 

[Usige]

To follow up on what JimR-OCDS said, you need to make time for prayer. As a wise priest once told me “no one ever physically starved because they didn’t make time to eat, but millions starve their spirit by not making time for prayer.”

The little office of the BVM is certainly a way to go. If finding solid blocks of time is a problem, then you can spread things out. Take 10 - 15 minutes in the morning to do Morning prayer and a decade of the rosary. You could say a second decade during a 5 minute break in the morning, a third at lunch and a fourth during an afternoon break. You could finish the last decade and pray the evening office in 15 minutes in the evening. Also if you pray the night office there is always a Marian antiphon or song to close out the day. I often use the “Hail Holy Queen” when I’ve split up the rosary through the day.

The important thing is to remember that we all have moment in the day to pray. Don’t worry about not having 30 minutes, but rather look for times where you can say “I have a couple minutes to pray rather than look at Facebook (or CAF ).” Also don’t get hung up on not finishing 5 decades in the day or missing an office. Prayer (all prayer) brings us closer to Christ.

 

[drforjc]

I do not think this is accurate.

It is a much shorter version of the Divine Office but is just as much a prayer of the Church

 

[Memaw]

I would like advice. I have Concecrated myself to Jesus through Mary, but I fell off the prayer wagon and have had a hard time starting back up. Recently I have felt called to start praying the Liturgy of the hours. I am enjoying them, but have a hard enough time fitting them into my day. I have given up (for now) saying the rosary. This is only a time issue, does anyone have any advice to offer? Thanks,

MoM

When I am pressed for time, I say the Rosary one decade at a time. God Bless, Memaw

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

I do not think this is accurate.

It’s accurate. The Little Office is taken from the common of Our Lady in the Roman Breviary and is considered to be Liturgical prayer.

 

[Magdalen2013]

I would like advice. I have Concecrated myself to Jesus through Mary, but I fell off the prayer wagon and have had a hard time starting back up. Recently I have felt called to start praying the Liturgy of the hours. I am enjoying them, but have a hard enough time fitting them into my day. I have given up (for now) saying the rosary. This is only a time issue, does anyone have any advice to offer? Thanks,

MoM

Don’t try to recite every Hour, every day. I’d suggest beginning with doing Night Prayer before you go to bed. Once you’re comfortable with that, then add Morning Prayer. The laity are encouraged to do Morning and Evening Prayer – “the hinges of the Church’s day.” Note – the one volume Christian Prayer from Pauline Media is easier to use that CBP’s version.

If you commute, you could also play a Rosary CD in the car (or MP3 on an Ipod) and pray with it on the way to and from work. If time is really short – consider doing the Angelus when you wake up, at lunch time, when you arrive home from work.

Others have suggested the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary – I pray this during May and in Advent as a change of pace from the LotH. There are many version available, I use the 1946 edition by Rev. J. M. Lellen.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Catholic4Christ

(Liturgically speaking) is this actually the case? I hear that the hymns are “optional” a lot in the LOTH, and they get left out a lot even in public non-sung recitation (even with priests present!),

The LOTH’s is designed to be said in a group and when done alone, the Hymns need not be sung or said. In a group, the hymns are generally sung.

Myself, I never attended a LOTHs service in a group where the hymns were not sung, and my OCDS group, we sang them even though only a few present, actually knew the hymns.

Its important to understand that there are differences between the LOTH’s said by a religious order like at a Benedictine Monastery. The Breviary by the Catholic Book Publishing company doesn’t follow the same.

Religious orders like the Benedictines follow their own text which is a two week cycle.

The Breviary, is a four week cycle.

Also, when I’ve attended the Benedictine or Trappist monasteries, they chant the entire psalm. Some do it in Latin, others in English.

When we lay people pray the LOTH’s alone, its not necessary to chant the psalms.

Jim