Rosary vs. Liturgy of the Hours: If one only has time for one, which is better? Which is more powerful or better to be prayed?

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I have this printed out and have used it occasionally:

classicalliberalarts.com/loth/praying_the_psalms.htm

I think it was found when searching the CAF forums. (A lot more productive most times than a regular Google search of the web.)

I know it’s not the full Liturgy of the Hours, just the Psalms, but maybe it would be a good way to “test the waters” so to speak. (Speaking for myself and others who may not want to use a site/app and don’t have the LOTH in book form.)

Oh, and I got a lesson in humility. I remembered after posting here that the Divine Office is a liturgy, so it’s right up there with the Mass. Then the replies here confirmed that memory. Thanks all for the correction and clarification. Sometimes getting info into the brain is like pouring a gallon of water into a thimble. LOL

God Bless :irish3:
 
“The best prayer is not that which is most savory, but that which is most fruitful; not that which consoles, but that which transforms us; not that which elevates us in the common or the mystical ways, but that which makes us humble, detached, obedient, generous, faithful to all our duties. Assuredly, we highly esteem contemplation, provided, however, it unites our will to God’s, transforms our life, or, at least, advances us in virtue.” Father Abbot Vital Lehoday, The Ways of Mental Prayer, pg 408

The answer has to always be an individual one based on how the soul is cooperating with God.
 
Abandonment to Divine Providence
by
Jean-Pierre de Caussade

…Our duties must be so arranged as to be commensurate with the designs of God, and to follow the path designated by our attraction. To carry out our inspirations will then become a duty to which we must be faithful. As there are souls whose whole duty is defined by exterior laws, and who should not go beyond them because restricted by the will of God; so also there are others who, besides exterior duties, are obliged to carry out faithfully that interior rule imprinted on their hearts. **It would be a foolish and frivolous curiosity to try to discover which is the most holy. **

Each has to follow the appointed path. Perfection consists in submitting unreservedly to the designs of God, and in fulfilling the duties of one’s state in the most perfect manner possible. To compare the different states as they are in themselves can do nothing to improve us, since it is neither in the amount of work, nor in the sort of duties given to
us that perfection is to be found. If self-love is the motive power of our acts, or if it be not
immediately crushed when discovered, our supposed abundance will be in truth absolute poverty because it is not supplied by obedience to the will of God. However, to decide the question in some way, I think that holiness can be measured by the love one has for God, and the desire to please Him, and that the more His will is the guiding principle, and His plans conformed to and loved, the greater will be the holiness, no matter what may be the means made use of. It is this that we notice in Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In their separate lives there is more of love than of greatness, and more of the spirit than of the matter. It is not written that they sought holiness in things themselves, but only in the motive with which they used them. It must therefore be concluded that one way is not more perfect than another, but that the most perfect is that which is most closely in conformity with the order established by God, whether by the accomplishment of exterior duties, or by interior dispositions.

peace

Go to Mass.
 
HillbillyHermit said:
I’ve never seen a top 10 list of prayers. 😛

I still have a problem with ranking prayers. It’s like telling someone that they have to talk to a loved one in a specific way, and that way is the better one.

The Rosary, Liturgy of the Hours, Lectio Divina, meditating on the daily Mass readings, etc. are all good. The Church encourages them all. I don’t think that means we have to do them all.

If you have time for one of 'em, take some with 'em both on their own and choose the one you are drawn to. Just my :twocents:
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Yep, the Church ranks prayers. Liturgy first, devotions second. You can consult the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy if you want to confirm that claim. This is why we can truthfully say “The Mass is the highest form of prayer”, implicitly confirming that there are lower forms of prayer. The LOTH comes second only to the Mass.
 
Okay, so how long does it take to pray the LOTH? All of it, for a day?
 
maryjk said:
Okay, so how long does it take to pray the LOTH? All of it, for a day?
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For beginners, it would be best to pray Morning and Evening Prayer, and maybe Night Prayer too, since this is what the Church recommends.

Morning and Evening Prayer take about 10-15 minutes each when recited. Night Prayer, about 5 minutes. So combine these and you have about a good half hour of prayer throughout the day.
 
porthos11 said:
For beginners, it would be best to pray Morning and Evening Prayer, and maybe Night Prayer too, since this is what the Church recommends.

Morning and Evening Prayer take about 10-15 minutes each when recited. Night Prayer, about 5 minutes. So combine these and you have about a good half hour of prayer throughout the day.
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Thank you, but that doesn’t answer my question.

Not for beginners, but for those that pray the entire LOTH, how long does it take?

I am saying, if you go out and buy the 4 books, read/recite/pray everything for each day. How long would it take for each day.
 
maryjk said:
Okay, so how long does it take to pray the LOTH? All of it, for a day?
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Once you know how… about 22 mins for morning and evening prayer. 10-15 for the other five hours. leaving plenty of time for rosary, chaplet, and just loving Jesus. If you pray in community maybe a bit longer for each.

peace
 
OraLabora said:
In many ways the LoTH pre-dates the Church, it is rooted in the even more ancient custom of the Jewish people to pray the psalms morning and night.

The LoTH is a great prayer vigil, it is one continuous prayer of the Church. Somewhere, every hour of the day someone is praying the LoTH. One time zone relays the other. It truly cements us into the Body of Christ. A relay race to eternal life!
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Absolutely brilliant!
 
hazcompat said:
Once you know how… about 22 mins for morning and evening prayer. 10-15 for the other five hours. leaving plenty of time for rosary, chaplet, and just loving Jesus. If you pray in community maybe a bit longer for each.

peace
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To fully pray the LOTH one does not have to pray all the hours.

What is required is Morning and Evening Prayer, Night Prayer, the Office of Readings, and one of the Daytime Prayers (not all three).

So those who know what the are doing and not rushing you can do Morning and Evening Prayer in about 15 - 20 each. One of the Daytime Prayers in 10 minutes. Night Prayer in about 5 minutes or longer depending on your examine of conscience. Office of the Readings about 25-30 minutes.

So all told somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half. But remember this is not all done at once, it is spread out over the day.
 
If I’m doing the LoTH and not one of the longer monastic variants:

Office of readings chanted 20 min
Morning prayer chanted, 20-25 min
Terce 5 min read, 10 min chanted
Sext 8 min read, 10-15 chanted
None 5 min read, 10 chanted
Evening 20-25 chanted
Compline 10-15 chanted.

For the minor hours, read if at office, chanted (weekdays) if working from home, Terce and None ommitted on weekends. OOR a bit longer on feasts. Total, worst case 2 hours per day.

Reading instead of chanting would reduce that significantly.
 
maryjk said:
Thank you, but that doesn’t answer my question.

Not for beginners, but for those that pray the entire LOTH, how long does it take?

I am saying, if you go out and buy the 4 books, read/recite/pray everything for each day. How long would it take for each day.
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Then let’s do the math (assuming all offices are recited and based on my own pace).

Office of Readings about 20 minutes, including the invitatory.
Morning Prayer, about 10. subtotal = 30
Midmorning Prayer, about 7. subtotal = 37
Midday Prayer, about 7. subtotal = 44
Midafternoon, about 7. subtotal = 51
Evening Prayer, about 10. subtotal = 61
Night Prayer, about 5. Grand total = 65

So if you do the full office recited, about an hour’s time combined. You can easily double that if fully sung (not likely in private prayer, but some do it).
 
Okay, with that information.

When the OP says, “pray the rosary,” do people assume he meant 5 decades or 20?

Why all of these questions?

Because if people are thinking about starting either, they should know up front what kind of time commitment we are talking about.

Normally when I pray a rosary, I mean 5 decades. So a rosary for me, takes about 20 minutes. If I pray all 20 decades, it would be an hour, 20 minutes.
 
porthos11 said:
For beginners, it would be best to pray Morning and Evening Prayer, and maybe Night Prayer too, since this is what the Church recommends.

Morning and Evening Prayer take about 10-15 minutes each when recited. Night Prayer, about 5 minutes. So combine these and you have about a good half hour of prayer throughout the day.
Click to expand...
porthos11 said:
Then let’s do the math (assuming all offices are recited and based on my own pace).

Office of Readings about 20 minutes, including the invitatory.
Morning Prayer, about 10. subtotal = 30
Midmorning Prayer, about 7. subtotal = 37
Midday Prayer, about 7. subtotal = 44
Midafternoon, about 7. subtotal = 51
Evening Prayer, about 10. subtotal = 61
Night Prayer, about 5. Grand total = 65

So if you do the full office recited, about an hour’s time combined. You can easily double that if fully sung (not likely in private prayer, but some do it).
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I’m glad you decided to do the math. There is a vast difference between 30 minutes and an hour.

It looks like it comes down to taking somewhere between just over an hour to an hour and a half. Similar time if someone were to pray 20 decades of a rosary.
 
OraLabora said:
In many ways the LoTH pre-dates the Church, it is rooted in the even more ancient custom of the Jewish people to pray the psalms morning and night.

The LoTH is a great prayer vigil, it is one continuous prayer of the Church. Somewhere, every hour of the day someone is praying the LoTH. One time zone relays the other. It truly cements us into the Body of Christ. A relay race to eternal life!
Click to expand...
I was just reading about the Shema Yisrael last night.

“Shema Yisrael” is literally “Hear, O Israel.”

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

The Shema prayer was and still is considered a condensation of the entire Torah. In it is contained the entirety of God’s Torah law as given to Moses. Jews were required to keep the words of the Shema ever on their lips - whether at work or rest, in their going out and in their coming in, whether at home or on the road, during their life and as they lay dying.

Read more about the Shema and hear it spoken here

The Shema was the first line of the Jewish morning and evening prayers and probably the first prayer that children learned. When Peter went up to the rooftop to pray in Acts 10, he probably chanted the Shema. When Jesus was asked by a scribe what the first commandment of God is, he recites the Shema from Deuteronomy 6.

You probably know all this Ora, but having just read about it, I find it fascinating.

-Tim-
 
Our beloved Brother JR reminded us in another thread that if there is a decision to be made about which one to pray, the Liturgy of the Hours must take precidence.

He gave the example of the Friars assembling in a chapel to pray the Liturgy and a woman requesting that they vacate the chapel so that a group could use it to pray the rosary. In this case the rosary had to take a back seat because the Liturgy is the public prayer of the Church while the rosary is a private prayer.

Those of us who are not cannonically required to pray the Liturgy can choose. I’m consecrated to Mary and pray the rosary often, but if push comes to shove, the Liturgy takes precidence. The Mass and Liturgy of the Hours are public, liturgical prayers of the Church, and they always take precidence over private prayer.

-Tim-
 
porthos11 said:
Yep, the Church ranks prayers. Liturgy first, devotions second. You can consult the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy if you want to confirm that claim. This is why we can truthfully say “The Mass is the highest form of prayer”, implicitly confirming that there are lower forms of prayer. The LOTH comes second only to the Mass.
Click to expand...
40.png
me:
I have this printed out and have used it occasionally:

classicalliberalarts.com/loth/praying_the_psalms.htm

I think it was found when searching the CAF forums. (A lot more productive most times than a regular Google search of the web.)

I know it’s not the full Liturgy of the Hours, just the Psalms, but maybe it would be a good way to “test the waters” so to speak. (Speaking for myself and others who may not want to use a site/app and don’t have the LOTH in book form.)

Oh, and I got a lesson in humility. I remembered after posting here that the Divine Office is a liturgy, so it’s right up there with the Mass. Then the replies here confirmed that memory. Thanks all for the correction and clarification. Sometimes getting info into the brain is like pouring a gallon of water into a thimble. LOL

God Bless :irish3:
Click to expand...
 
TimothyH said:
Our beloved Brother JR reminded us in another thread that if there is a decision to be made about which one to pray, the Liturgy of the Hours must take precidence.

He gave the example of the Friars assembling in a chapel to pray the Liturgy and a woman requesting that they vacate the chapel so that a group could use it to pray the rosary. In this case the rosary had to take a back seat because the Liturgy is the public prayer of the Church while the rosary is a private prayer.

Those of us who are not cannonically required to pray the Liturgy can choose. I’m consecrated to Mary and pray the rosary often, but if push comes to shove, the Liturgy takes precidence. The Mass and Liturgy of the Hours are public, liturgical prayers of the Church, and they always take precidence over private prayer.

-Tim-
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Tim,
Your avatar is brilliant 😃
 
maryjk said:
It looks like it comes down to taking somewhere between just over an hour to an hour and a half. Similar time if someone were to pray 20 decades of a rosary.
Click to expand...
Yes, if one wished to do all of the hours of the day and they are read at a comfortable pace, they are looking at probably just over an hour. It also depends on if you read or sing the hymns which, while not required, is typically encouraged.

The traditional monastic office had no hymns and more psalms which were said in order rather than broken up by time or day of the week and the traditional cathedral office had less psalms but added a hymn and did revolve around the days of the week, time of the day, and the liturgical year. St. Benedict combined the two forms for the Benedictine Office of which he speaks in the Holy Rule.
 
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