Scripture for Office of Readings

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HowardF

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Hi All,

I have just recently discovered Liturgy of the Hours and found that it really speaks to me. I’ve already started meeting with my priest and a visiting seminary student for Evening Prayer.

My question is about a note in my one volume Christian Prayers book. In the selection of reading for Ordinary time (p 1924), it says “During this season, any book of scripture is appropriate.” How literal can I interpret this in my individual prayer? I know there is a two-year cycle of readings provided, but can I choose other readings each day?

I ask because I have always wanted to do this reading plan (assets.ascensionpress.com/tga/student/Reading_Plan.pdf) and if I could incorporate that in OOR I might actually be able to complete it.

(I know that as laity, I have a lot of flexibility in LOTH; I’m curious if this is a bit too flexible.)

Thanks!

Howard
 
You can be as flexible as you want according to the needs of your own spirituality 👍

Note that praying the full Office of Readings from Christian Prayer is very difficult without online resources like divineoffice.org or iBreviary. The cycle of readings is not just scriptural - there are also second readings from non-scripture sources. Both the first and second readings for each day have their own responsory prayers that (as far as I remember) are not included in Christian Prayer. You can find some resources online for the two-year cycle of both scripture and non-scripture readings, but again the proper responsories are not present.

It is not necessary for you to pray from the Office of Readings “perfectly,” but if you find yourself drawn to that then the iBreviary app, the Divine Office website, or the four volume Liturgy of the Hours set will be your best bet for the one-year cycle of readings. For a two year cycle of non-scriptural second readings, this page is helpful (but again, no responsories): dur.ac.uk/theology.religion/ccs/patristiclectionary/history/
 
I prefer the divineoffice.org website which uses the breviary from the Catholic Book Publishing Company.

This version uses the New American Bible translation, which is the same as used at Mass in most dioceses in the US.

Also, this breviary is the most common one used by various religious orders outside monastic orders, and if you ever join a group that prays the LOTH’s, it will probably be the version they use.

That all being said, they are coming up with a new translation of the breviary, to be in line with the new English translation of the Mass. My guess is that they’re about five years away, before we see its release.

Currently, there are little discrepancies between the closing prayer and the collect at Mass.

So, it might be worth waiting before buying the four volume set, which is rather expensive.

Jim
 
Pauline Media used to publish a one volume Office of Readings with the four week psalter, containing the psalms and antiphons pertinent to those readings.

You can occasionally find a copy on Ebay, that’s how I got mine.
 
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