Office of Readings

[TempleofTheSoul]

I´ve been praying the LOTH for a while now but always have avoided like the plague praying the Office of Readings but am now going to try and dive into it.

My questions are where do you get the verse and the responsories for the Biblical and non-Biblical readings? It says after the psalms with their antiphons that the readings and prayer are from the office for the day…so would this mean that depending on the season you would get it from the Psalter or the Propers?

Lastly, is the same responsory used for both the Biblical and non-Biblical readings?

If I can get over the Office of Readings hump then I could pray this Office any time the Spirit moves me to.

Thank you and God bless

 

[agnes_therese]

What version of the LOTH do you use? I have the 4-volume, and the responsories are right after the readings.

I´ve been praying the LOTH for a while now but always have avoided like the plague praying the Office of Readings but am now going to try and dive into it.

My questions are where do you get the verse and the responsories for the Biblical and non-Biblical readings? It says after the psalms with their antiphons that the readings and prayer are from the office for the day…so would this mean that depending on the season you would get it from the Psalter or the Propers?

Lastly, is the same responsory used for both the Biblical and non-Biblical readings?

If I can get over the Office of Readings hump then I could pray this Office any time the Spirit moves me to.

Thank you and God bless

 

[TempleofTheSoul]

What version of the LOTH do you use? I have the 4-volume, and the responsories are right after the readings.

I use the one-volume Christian prayer… so the responsories don’t come right after the Biblical and non-Biblical readings as it would in the 4 volume. It also doesn’t tell you were to get the verse after the Psalmody.

God bless

 

[AJV]

I use the one-volume Christian prayer… so the responsories don’t come right after the Biblical and non-Biblical readings as it would in the 4 volume. It also doesn’t tell you were to get the verse after the Psalmody.

God bless

The one-volume is a bit tricky since it only has a very very small and random selection of the Office of Readings so its a bit ad-hoc. You could try an online site such as ibreviary.com/m or divineoffice.org. They are also already arranged so you don’t have to worry about finding your way.

 

[Castello]

I love the easy way … www.divineoffice.org

 

[OraLabora]

The Office of Readings replaces Vigils in the LOTH and can be said at any time in the day; however its tradition is rooted in Vigils, a night office that was a “vigil” during the night to be ready in case He came and to keep up continuous prayer. It is a long and beautiful tradition, and most monks will tell you that they consider Vigils the most important office of the day. As I use a monastic breviary (a current approved one) I recite Vigils at about 5:50 am. There is a rich treasury of readings, both biblical and patristic.

I use the two-year lectionary in a separate volume. But for most, using the 4-volume LOTH is the best bet as in the current volume one finds both the biblical and patristic readings and their responsories and also the verse after the psalmody.

It should be pointed out that in private recitation, the responsory may be omitted and replaced with a period of silence to meditate on the reading. Responsories sort of don’t make sense in private recitation, as the “response” is in response to a verse recited or chanted by the cantor; but I say them anyway.

I strongly recommend praying this Office if you can, and works best IMHO very early in the morning, before Morning Prayer. It’s very enriching.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I use the one volume Christian Prayer. I get the Office of Readings from Divine Office. They usually have audio in addition to the printed version, so one can have company.

 

[TempleofTheSoul]

Thank you all for your posts…I really appreciate them.

I finally got to speak one on one after mass with a learned priest that I know who prays the Divine Office and asked him about where to find the verses and responsories. He told me that since I am not under the obligation of an order that whatever is missing in the Christian Prayer book that can be found in the 4 volume LOTH I can just skip. No big deal.

That was a pretty straightforward and simple answer… And here I was giving myself a headache over it.

God bless you all abundantly this blessed Sunday!