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struggling4him
Guest
Something I’ve always wanted to ask - when I pray the liturgy of the hours solo, do I have to include the hymn? I get the purpose it serves with a group of people, but, by myself, just seems odd.
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Bonnie
Guest
No. But if you feel like it, you can either read it like a poem or sing it.
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Dorothy
Guest
I read it like a poem; or sing it when I know the tune.
Yes. The hymn is integral to the Office and there is no option to omit it.
That said, you can recite the hymn if you don’t know the tune, or just prefer to do so if you’re praying alone.
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Isaiah45_9
Guest
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estesbob
Guest
I dont
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DCNBILL
Guest
I always read the hymn it is a prayer that usually gets our focus on the theme for the prayers to follow.
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AngelusDomini
Guest
The hymn is part of the Office. However, if you are not bound to recite the LOTH and it is not a public service, you are free to adapt it as you wish as it is personal prayer.
Personally, I love the use of the hymns - they are, after all, poems of praise (very much like the psalms). They can be a great source of inspiration and if you know the meter you can always have a go at singing them (or find them online and listen to them). You can also substitute the hymns with other appropriate ones.
Personally, I love the use of the hymns - they are, after all, poems of praise (very much like the psalms). They can be a great source of inspiration and if you know the meter you can always have a go at singing them (or find them online and listen to them). You can also substitute the hymns with other appropriate ones.
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OraLabora
Guest
If you don’t follow the rubrics and you are not bound, yes it is personal prayer but it it is no longer the liturgy of the hours. If you are not bound but follow the rubrics, then it is the Liturgy of the Hours. In other words you are participating, even privately, in the public liturgy of the Church.
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estesbob
Guest
I have praying hours for 15 years and have never used the hymns. I assumed the were
Optional. I was wrong. This thread prompted me to check the rubrics and they are indeed required whether you are praying them alone or not . So starting with the night prayer for tonight I will be praying the hymns
Optional. I was wrong. This thread prompted me to check the rubrics and they are indeed required whether you are praying them alone or not . So starting with the night prayer for tonight I will be praying the hymns
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Mary_Ellen
Guest
I am bound to pray the LOTH and have never found in the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours anything that says the Hymn is optional so I always try to read it or sing it if I know or can adapt the tune, even when I’m alone. As previous posters said, if you’re not bound to pray the Hours you can do what you like.
You can find the GILotH online at ewtn.com/library/curia/cdwgilh.htm#Ch%20IV-III if you’re interested.
You can find the GILotH online at ewtn.com/library/curia/cdwgilh.htm#Ch%20IV-III if you’re interested.
Even if one is not bound, one is still not free to do as he likes if he wants to pray the Official Prayer of the Church, i.e. the Liturgy, public prayer, the Divine Office. One sticks to the rubrics and the approved translation.
If one wants to adapt and change stuff, sure go ahead, but it becomes private, devotional prayer.
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OraLabora
Guest
Exactly. There are licit options in the General Instructions and rubrics that are left to our discretion (or the celebrant or person leading the liturgy).
In addition as a Benedictine oblate, I can follow the General Instructions of the Monastic Liturgy of the Hours, that allows a few more options. While monastics are supposed to use one of the monastic schemas, the 4-week LOTH is permissible for those engaged in external apostolates or for certain communities where the workload, external work, or health of the community may require a lighter office; and for oblates who may use it ad libitum instead of the abbey’s proper Office. Monastic elements are allowed to be incorporated.
For example, in the Monastic Office it’s customary to precede the Lord’s Prayer with a Kyrie at Lauds and Vespers, and at the minor hours or mid-day Office, to precede the collect with the Kyrie and the Lord’s prayer in secreto (in secret) until the “ne nos inducas in tentationem”, followed by the collect. I also use one of the monastic schemas for Compline: psalms 4, 90 and 133 every night said in directum (no antiphon), the hymn placed after the psalmody, and the Nunc Dimittis said in directum without antiphon (in fact in the true Monastic tradition, the responsory and Nunc Dimittis are never said but are replaced with a verse and response; only after Vatican II have monastics been permitted to use the responsory and Nunc Dimittis ad libitum).
Also in the monastic tradition there is an invocation for the souls of the deceased and absent brethren, but that’s after the final blessing and thus not part of the Office proper.
However these are Benedictine (and Cistercian) elements that are licit for those attached to or part of a monastic community.
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El_PAso
Guest
Hi,
I used to live near a parish with daily TLM but now there is no option for that and I attend an OF parish.
I was praying the RB and of course the calendar was in sync. Previous for over 8 years I prayed the LOTH at the OF calendar.
I am not s religious and under no obligation but want to do it correctly.
Before I was only aware of the two but understand ther are a number of different Offices that are prayed amoung religious communities. So different approaches and no law for the laity I am aware of.
The past month I have been praying the LOTH again and while I get a lot out of it I miss the more focussed text and translation of the Baronius Press RB. I want to try the RB again but don’t want to get too mixed up with the different calendars and am confused on a good approach where I don’t become, well, scrupulous about the praying.
Apologies for any typos as I am on an iPad sans specs!
El Paso
I used to live near a parish with daily TLM but now there is no option for that and I attend an OF parish.
I was praying the RB and of course the calendar was in sync. Previous for over 8 years I prayed the LOTH at the OF calendar.
I am not s religious and under no obligation but want to do it correctly.
Before I was only aware of the two but understand ther are a number of different Offices that are prayed amoung religious communities. So different approaches and no law for the laity I am aware of.
The past month I have been praying the LOTH again and while I get a lot out of it I miss the more focussed text and translation of the Baronius Press RB. I want to try the RB again but don’t want to get too mixed up with the different calendars and am confused on a good approach where I don’t become, well, scrupulous about the praying.
Apologies for any typos as I am on an iPad sans specs!
El Paso
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El_PAso
Guest
Regarding this not under obligation…
Exactly what virtues does praying the office properly bestow? I mean just praying the Psalms daily does wonders for me. Btw I have always recited the hymn and followed along as best I know the official rubrics.
That said, are there seem indulgences for being “perfect” about the office that are loss if hymns are skipped or hours missed on occasion? I understand it is prayers of the Church and strengthens the Body of the Chuch but is it so strict that by skipping an hour or a hymn dilute the effect so much?
I pray the office because it brings me closer to Christ. The Psalms speak to my soul and it gives me structure, allows me to get out of my own way as opposed to just readin from the Bible 5 times a day. I have not been told of any indulgences but this thread brought that question to kind.
Thanks and sorry for any typos, ipad today!
El Paso
Exactly what virtues does praying the office properly bestow? I mean just praying the Psalms daily does wonders for me. Btw I have always recited the hymn and followed along as best I know the official rubrics.
That said, are there seem indulgences for being “perfect” about the office that are loss if hymns are skipped or hours missed on occasion? I understand it is prayers of the Church and strengthens the Body of the Chuch but is it so strict that by skipping an hour or a hymn dilute the effect so much?
I pray the office because it brings me closer to Christ. The Psalms speak to my soul and it gives me structure, allows me to get out of my own way as opposed to just readin from the Bible 5 times a day. I have not been told of any indulgences but this thread brought that question to kind.
Thanks and sorry for any typos, ipad today!
El Paso
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Windmill
Guest
I have both the LOTH and the RB (and other forms of the Office as well), so I have tried navigating these waters before. Based on what you’ve identified as your priorities, this would be the way I’d go.
Are you still going to daily Mass? If so, I would recommend praying Compline from the RB and everything else from the LOTH. Compline is the least dependent on the calendar (in either form), so you’d still get your daily dose of traditionalism while staying in sync with your daily Mass.
If you are not attending daily Mass in the OF parish, then I’d consider praying the RB Monday through Saturday and the LOTH for Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.
Are you still going to daily Mass? If so, I would recommend praying Compline from the RB and everything else from the LOTH. Compline is the least dependent on the calendar (in either form), so you’d still get your daily dose of traditionalism while staying in sync with your daily Mass.
If you are not attending daily Mass in the OF parish, then I’d consider praying the RB Monday through Saturday and the LOTH for Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.
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Convert_in_99
Guest
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!
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Lormar
Guest
I prayed the Divine Office alone for years and always included the hymn, reading it as a prayer.
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OraLabora
Guest
One thing I’ve learned about liturgy from hanging out with Benedictines, is that it’s not all about me, beyond the licit options I can exercise as personal choices that are built into the rubrics.
I know many people like to criticize the LOTH. I don’t find it perfect by any stretch. But it’s what we have, and by studying it I’ve come to find it’s very good.
With regards to Windmill’s comment about Compline: the rubrics of the LOTH just happen to offer one of those choices: it is licit to use psalms 4, 90 and 133 for Compline every day. Those are the traditional Compline psalms from the 6th century. The RB, like the LOTH, only uses these three on Sundays. However the RB does not give you the option to stick to the traditional psalms for Compline on weekdays. The LOTH allows you to do this licitly every day of the week. That’s what I do. Following the monastic tradition, I chant them in directum without antiphon.
There are several ways of looking at getting our “dose” of tradition. One is to view tradition to the letter of the law, every liturgical “i” dotted or “t” crossed. If that’s the way, then the RB is nowhere near traditional. Even the hymns are the rather poorly adulterated hymns of Urban VIII. At least the LOTH restored the traditional hymn texts (for the Latin hymns; the vernacular is another story, but one isn’t bound to use the vernacular hymns, it is perfectly licit to chant or even just recite the hymns from the Liber Hymnarius). The Monastic breviary, on the other hand, traces back all the way to the 6th century; even the one in use post-Vatican II.
Then there’s the way where one adapts traditions to changing times, and ensures that important traditional concepts are carried forward even as other parts of the liturgy change. I favour this way. It leads to less stress, and less heartache. Both the RB and the LOTH can be adapted to this approach. For the LOTH, the different rubrical options to stick to some traditions, such as Compline above, or OT canticles to turn the Office of Readings into Vigils; the use of Gregorian chant which now can be done using approved books; the traditional placement of some psalms; all ensure that the LOTH is faithful to carrying forward important traditions that merit preservation.
If we want to pray the LOTH as liturgy, in synch with the Church, then we stick to the rubrics and licit options. If we want to pray as a private devotion then we can do what we want. however any private prayer, IMHO that is based on what we want rather than what the Church proclaims as public prayer doesn’t carry the same weight. Yes God will hear our intentions, but the LOTH is about the intentions of the entire Church.
It is licit for clergy bound to the Office to use the RB according Summorum Pontificum, according to its 1962 format, in Latin. The RB was never intended for the laity, though the laity can use it. But the LOTH is intended for laity.
I know many people like to criticize the LOTH. I don’t find it perfect by any stretch. But it’s what we have, and by studying it I’ve come to find it’s very good.
With regards to Windmill’s comment about Compline: the rubrics of the LOTH just happen to offer one of those choices: it is licit to use psalms 4, 90 and 133 for Compline every day. Those are the traditional Compline psalms from the 6th century. The RB, like the LOTH, only uses these three on Sundays. However the RB does not give you the option to stick to the traditional psalms for Compline on weekdays. The LOTH allows you to do this licitly every day of the week. That’s what I do. Following the monastic tradition, I chant them in directum without antiphon.
There are several ways of looking at getting our “dose” of tradition. One is to view tradition to the letter of the law, every liturgical “i” dotted or “t” crossed. If that’s the way, then the RB is nowhere near traditional. Even the hymns are the rather poorly adulterated hymns of Urban VIII. At least the LOTH restored the traditional hymn texts (for the Latin hymns; the vernacular is another story, but one isn’t bound to use the vernacular hymns, it is perfectly licit to chant or even just recite the hymns from the Liber Hymnarius). The Monastic breviary, on the other hand, traces back all the way to the 6th century; even the one in use post-Vatican II.
Then there’s the way where one adapts traditions to changing times, and ensures that important traditional concepts are carried forward even as other parts of the liturgy change. I favour this way. It leads to less stress, and less heartache. Both the RB and the LOTH can be adapted to this approach. For the LOTH, the different rubrical options to stick to some traditions, such as Compline above, or OT canticles to turn the Office of Readings into Vigils; the use of Gregorian chant which now can be done using approved books; the traditional placement of some psalms; all ensure that the LOTH is faithful to carrying forward important traditions that merit preservation.
If we want to pray the LOTH as liturgy, in synch with the Church, then we stick to the rubrics and licit options. If we want to pray as a private devotion then we can do what we want. however any private prayer, IMHO that is based on what we want rather than what the Church proclaims as public prayer doesn’t carry the same weight. Yes God will hear our intentions, but the LOTH is about the intentions of the entire Church.
It is licit for clergy bound to the Office to use the RB according Summorum Pontificum, according to its 1962 format, in Latin. The RB was never intended for the laity, though the laity can use it. But the LOTH is intended for laity.
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YADA
Guest
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
What site has the best Android or tablet option? As I would like to access from both my phone and I tablet
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