Monastic Matins

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futureKC123

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Hey all!
I use the Monastic Diurnal. What are my options for a book with Matins in it? I know there’s a Western Orthodox one and there might be one published by Clear Creek. Has anybody had any experience with any of these?
Thanks!
FKC
 
Hi FutureKC:
Praying the Diurnal is a brave undertaking (!!!) and I pray for your success. Even more so, adding the Monastic Matins to your day! As an Orthodox and a lover of the Benedictine way, I got a copy of the Western Orthodox Matins from Lancelot Andrewes Press. It is a complicated book,to say the least. Andrewes does produce a guide to the use of the Matins book and it is not impossible to follow. I don’t know about Clear Creek.
My suggestion would be to first use one of the on-line divine offices, the http://divinumofficium.com being the most prolific in its choices of versions of the D.O. It includes most of the variations right back to pre-Trent monastics. The beauty of the on-line office is that all the page-turning and hunting is taken care of for you. You can download to pc or Mac, android or other device, but it’s easiest to just read and pray it on line. Using the book after you decide to buy it does make Matins more mobile, unless you have a G3 or G4 device.
One more thing: the Matins book from Andrewes comes from the Anglican Benedictine usage, adjusted for Western Orthodox saints. The on-line version is strictly Roman in its saints and calendar. One more on-line office is universalis.com, but I think it is LOTH without Matins.
Good luck and blessings upon your efforts.
 
There was a thread on this a while back. I know of a good post-Vatican II source for Benedictine monastic vigils. It has the same psalm order as the pre-Vatican II office but obviously it is adapted to the current liturgical calendar and lectionary. Alas it is Latin-French only (not an obstacle for me as I’m a native French speaker). I have a pre-Vatican II monastic breviary, entirely in Latin. It was a gift from my spiritual director, obviously out-of-print. There may be English sources from specific monasteries.

This is indeed a brave undertaking. I tried it. All I can say is that it is incompatible with professional and family life (at least to do the entire nocturnal and diurnal), but if your situation allows it, go for it, just be careful that you don’t overdo it and neglect the needs of your loved ones; should those needs take precedence, it is far better to drop an hour and offer up your obligation to your loved ones as prayer in lieu of the omitted hour.

If you dig beneath the surface of the current 4-volume LOTH, you’ll discover many brilliant ways of adapting the traditional with modern needs. It’s what I’m currently using. Moreover now books exist to chant the diurnal LOTH in Gregorian chant. As you may know, the Office of Readings replaces Vigils (Matins) and can be said at any time but nothing prevents its use as Vigils as a night Office. In fact the GILH has instructions on how to do that, and the Vigil canticles for feasts and Sundays are included as optional parts.

Remember that the monastic Office was designed for use in monasteries, not for lay use, so using in a lay setting will be a challenge.
 
There was a thread on this a while back. I know of a good post-Vatican II source for Benedictine monastic vigils. It has the same psalm order as the pre-Vatican II office but obviously it is adapted to the current liturgical calendar and lectionary. Alas it is Latin-French only (not an obstacle for me as I’m a native French speaker). I have a pre-Vatican II monastic breviary, entirely in Latin. It was a gift from my spiritual director, obviously out-of-print. There may be English sources from specific monasteries.

This is indeed a brave undertaking. I tried it. All I can say is that it is incompatible with professional and family life (at least to do the entire nocturnal and diurnal), but if your situation allows it, go for it, just be careful that you don’t overdo it and neglect the needs of your loved ones; should those needs take precedence, it is far better to drop an hour and offer up your obligation to your loved ones as prayer in lieu of the omitted hour.

If you dig beneath the surface of the current 4-volume LOTH, you’ll discover many brilliant ways of adapting the traditional with modern needs. It’s what I’m currently using. Moreover now books exist to chant the diurnal LOTH in Gregorian chant. As you may know, the Office of Readings replaces Vigils (Matins) and can be said at any time but nothing prevents its use as Vigils as a night Office. In fact the GILH has instructions on how to do that, and the Vigil canticles for feasts and Sundays are included as optional parts.

Remember that the monastic Office was designed for use in monasteries, not for lay use, so using in a lay setting will be a challenge.
Can I use the Monastic Breviary Matins from Lancelot Andrews Press as a RC? Thanks!
 
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