Praying breviary alone

[porthos11]

If you are a lay person, there are no rules. I skip the hymns. I also on pray antiphonal before and after psalms instead of after every verse like some do. And I will often just read and meditate on the readiness in the office of readings and not do Ny of the psalms or prayers as I do those in morning prayer!

Yes there are. If you want to pray the Liturgy of the Hours as the Official Prayer of the Church, the rules apply. That includes not skipping the hymns or any integral part of the Office.

If you want to merely adapt the prayer as private devotional prayer, then there are no rules, as one has always been free to offer devotional prayer anyway.

Praying the antiphons before and after the Psalms are the standard way to do it, except for the Invitatory psalm, which is normally done responsorially, but even saying the antiphon just at the beginning is fine in individual recitation. It does not “demote” the Office to devotional prayer.

As for the Office of Readings, if you merely read the readings and nothing else, then you’re doing sacred reading. That’s fine. But it’s not the Liturgy of the Hours.

The point is, if you want to pray the Liturgy of the Hours as the Prayer of the Church, then stick with the rules. Otherwise, let’s not make any pretenses that we can do whatever we want and still honestly say we’re offering the Divine Office. The Divine Office is the Divine Office only because the Church has declared it to be such, and in its approved forms.

 

[DCNBILL]

Is it possible to find/subscribe to the official Divine Office …Liturgy of the Hours online? I know there is one site but the translation is not the same as the written English language version.

What site has the best Android or tablet option? As I would like to access from both my phone and I tablet

Try ibreviary.org/en/

 

[OraLabora]

Praying the antiphons before and after the Psalms are the standard way to do it, except for the Invitatory psalm, which is normally done responsorially, but even saying the antiphon just at the beginning is fine in individual recitation. It does not “demote” the Office to devotional prayer.

Regarding the antiphons, there are a few options according to the General Instructions and rubrics.

One, for the invitatory in private recitation, it’s acceptable to recite the entire invitatory with the antiphon at the beginning only.

For psalms divided into two or three sections with separate antiphons, it is permissible to say the entire psalm under one antiphon, and with one Gloria Patri.

For those of a monastic inclination, traditionally Benedictine Compline was chanted in directum, sine antiphone (no antiphon). Prior to Vatican II it also had a verse and response instead of the responsory “In manus tuas”, and no Canticle of Simeon, but those are now allowed ad libitum, with or without antiphon for the Canticle, since the Council. Given that my oblate statutes allow me to use all or part of a monastic Office to fulfill my daily obligation, I chant Compline as my abbey does: no antiphons, but with responsory and Gospel canticle.

And of course as stated in the GILH, clergy who are obligated to the Office fulfill that obligation if they attend a religious community (e.g. on retreat, or while visiting) and assist at one of their Offices that uses a different psalter.

 

[agnes_therese]

Is it possible to find/subscribe to the official Divine Office …Liturgy of the Hours online? I know there is one site but the translation is not the same as the written English language version.

What site has the best Android or tablet option? As I would like to access from both my phone and I tablet

www.divineoffice.org. You can use it free on your computer, or download the app for a one-time charge. I find it works well on both my phone and my tablet (both are android).

Probably the one you’re thinking of that isn’t the official translation is universalis.com.