Psalters--are they interchangeable

[PacoG]

Recently we’ve started praying Evening Prayer before Mass on Saturday.

Our pastor told us that we are supposed to pray often, and that the faithful are called to pray Morning and Evening Prayer as he is called to pray five of the hours. He also told us that praying Evening Prayer gives us a better vision of how Saturday Evening Mass is really a Sunday Mass as Sunday begins after First Vespers.

Here’s the question: he invested in a set of “Mundelein Psalters.” But the demand is far beyond the 30 the parish owns. I am looking into buying my own Psalter. How different are the various Psalters? Are the wordings in “Christian Prayer” different from the “Mundelein Psalter?”

I know the wordings in the “Laudate” app’s psalter are significantly different. Would “Christian Prayer” be different from the “Mundelein Psalter”?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

The texts of Christian Prayer are the same as the ones used at divineoffice.org so you could compare them to what you see in the Mundelein Psalter. I believe the deal with the Mundelein is that it is geared more toward chanting, but I could be wrong. Is there a reason you wouldn’t just purchase the same version your parish is using?

Mundelein is available here: ltp.org/p-1536-the-mundelein-psalter.aspx
Christian Prayer is available here: catholicbookpublishing.com/products/100
The iBreviary app (free) also includes the texts of Christian Prayer.

 

[PacoG]

It’s bigger and heavier than Christian Prayer and more expensive.

 

[Evan]

Recently we’ve started praying Evening Prayer before Mass on Saturday.

Our pastor told us that we are supposed to pray often, and that the faithful are called to pray Morning and Evening Prayer as he is called to pray five of the hours. He also told us that praying Evening Prayer gives us a better vision of how Saturday Evening Mass is really a Sunday Mass as Sunday begins after First Vespers.

Here’s the question: he invested in a set of “Mundelein Psalters.” But the demand is far beyond the 30 the parish owns. I am looking into buying my own Psalter. How different are the various Psalters? Are the wordings in “Christian Prayer” different from the “Mundelein Psalter?”

I know the wordings in the “Laudate” app’s psalter are significantly different. Would “Christian Prayer” be different from the “Mundelein Psalter”?

We have both “Christian Prayer” be different from the “Mundelein Psalter” and the differences are very minor (like adding “oh” before “Lord” in some antiphones). The songs in the Mundelein are in Latin as is the Pater Noster.

 

[Elizium23]

The texts of Christian Prayer are the same as the ones used at divineoffice.org so you could compare them to what you see in the Mundelein Psalter. I believe the deal with the Mundelein is that it is geared more toward chanting, but I could be wrong. Is there a reason you wouldn’t just purchase the same version your parish is using?

Mundelein is available here: ltp.org/p-1536-the-mundelein-psalter.aspx
Christian Prayer is available here: catholicbookpublishing.com/products/100
The iBreviary app (free) also includes the texts of Christian Prayer.

Today, DivineOffice.ORG has a note in the text:
DivineOffice.ORG:

Evening Prayer II for the 3rd Sunday of Advent
Note: Because we often use the Mundelein Psalter (which is approved by the USCCB for public worship) for chanted psalms, this audio file has subtle translation differences.

So you see, it is a perfectly licit option to use the Mundelein Psalter in this way, and even DivineOffice.ORG does it!

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

So you see, it is a perfectly licit option to use the Mundelein Psalter in this way, and even DivineOffice.ORG does it!

I think the problem would come – if there is a problem – if you’re praying with a group and everyone else has a slightly different text from you. The question isn’t whether it’s licit, it’s whether you’re able to fully join in.

 

[Usige]

While the translations are often nearly the same if approved for the diocese/national conference, the biggest bugaboo when people are using different versions are:

1. 
   *]You don’t always have the same hymns so a hymn choice available in one edition might not be available in another one. For instance the Mundelein Psalter has “O Blest Creator of the Light” where as both my copies of Christian Pray (one from Paulist Press the other from Catholic Book Publishing) have “Creator of the Stars at Night” or “O Come, O Come, Emanuel” for Evening Prayer II tonight.
   *]If you are not familiar with the LotH and rely on someone to give you the page numbers rather than saying Evening Prayer II for Sunday, Week III some might get lost on where to go.
   *]On occasion I know that slightly different readings are used. For instance Christian Pray had Philippians 4:4-7 for this evening, but the Mundelein Psalter used a short reading and did not include verses 6 and 7. So if the group used the Mundelein Psalter, but someone was using Christian prayer the one using CP might wonder why only half the reading was read.
   
   It is okay to use any that you want, but be aware that if it’s a group not familiar with praying the hours then having multiple versions from different publishes will cause a little inconvenience.