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Ite_ad_Ioseph
Guest
Are there available online, any simple versions of lauds and/or vespers and/or compline? Most missalettes have such.
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InThePew
Guest
Try Universalis - for a one off fee you get unlimited access to the complete Liturgy of the Hours (app plus desktop plus online) and so can say as many or as few hours as you want.
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edward_george
Guest
Another good resource is www.divineoffice.org, which is free. Also, the free iBreviary app is very helpful.
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TimothyH
Guest
Might want to look at the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each recitation is much shorter and quite simple.
liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/LittleOffice.htm
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liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/LittleOffice.htm
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Red_James
Guest
A lay person has no obligation to say the entire office, or even Lauds and/or Vespers. If you’re praying alone at home, you can shorten the Divine Office, if you don’t have much time, such as by omitting a few psalms. Whatever works best for you.
www.divineoffice.org has all the prayers of the day and you can easily chose what you want to say if you are unable to say all the prayers of the morning, evening, or night.
A monthly subscription of $5 (I believe, but I could be mistaken) is required for “Give us this Day.” The “Give us this Day” prayer booklet has a much shorter morning/evening prayer than the Liturgy of the Hours, and it includes the readings/prayers from the Mass of the day, and a daily reflection. Sadly there is no night time prayer in that booklet. You can also see these prayers and reflections online on their website for a price, but its much cheaper if you don’t want to purchase the physical book.
www.divineoffice.org has all the prayers of the day and you can easily chose what you want to say if you are unable to say all the prayers of the morning, evening, or night.
A monthly subscription of $5 (I believe, but I could be mistaken) is required for “Give us this Day.” The “Give us this Day” prayer booklet has a much shorter morning/evening prayer than the Liturgy of the Hours, and it includes the readings/prayers from the Mass of the day, and a daily reflection. Sadly there is no night time prayer in that booklet. You can also see these prayers and reflections online on their website for a price, but its much cheaper if you don’t want to purchase the physical book.
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drforjc
Guest
Technically correct… but I have always been a vocal critic of the “I’m not obligated so I can do whatever I want” approach. If we really want to pray with the Church, and the LOTH in its approved form is truly the Prayer of the Church, I believe it best to do correctly as approved whatever portion of the Office you choose to do. A non-obligated lay person can certainly pray only one or two of the Hours, but again if we want to truly be praying the Liturgy (Church’s official public prayer) we should follow the approved books.
On another note,Universalis does not use an approved translation for the US and therefore IMO should be avoided. Try divineoffice.org or ibreviary instead.
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Lily_Bernans
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pensmama87
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Our family prays the morning and evening prayers in Magnificat magazine every day, and I do the night prayer as well.
magnificat.com
magnificat.com
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OraLabora
Guest
I agree. While we have no obligation to say the entire LOTH (though I do…), if we want to participate in the Liturgy of the hours, then it needs to be, well, liturgical. That means following the rubrics and schema of the hour, at an appropriate time for that hour, exercising whatever legitimate options the rubrics allow.
Where we can abbreviate is by omitting hours or using an approved abridged schema such as Christian Prayer or Shorter Christian Prayer.
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Red_James
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I’m not advocating to shorten it or to change it around. I certainly try to say the entire Hour and not omit anything. Only rarely have I ever had to shorten my prayer (mainly because I had unexpected situations pop up and was unable to finish the hour in its entirety). I even try to follow the General Instruction, when at home, such as standing during the Canticle and Gospel, or doing the sign of the cross on the lips when saying “Lord, open my lips.” However, there were times, as I said, were I had to shorten it because of things outside of my control, and I don’t believe I did anything wrong here.
If someone has a really tight schedule and wanted to join the Church in prayer, I believe it would be much better for them to say just the Canticle and maybe a Psalm, than to not pray at all, or rush through the Hour to get it done as fast as possible, with no reverence.
That’s just the thing. If you just say a Psalm or Canticle, it’s no longer joining the Church in prayer, but is rather private, devotional prayer, which still a praiseworthy and meritorious act. If it’s all you can do, it’s all you can do.
But as far as the usual “you are not bound so you can do whatever you want”, I’m smack in the opposing camp. If one wants to pray the Prayer of the Church, one needs to follow the rubrics and omit nothing that is required (and yes, this includes the hymn; it cannot be licitly omitted). Otherwise, one can freely adapt as a personal devotion. It all goes to intent.
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otjm
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Without rushing, Lauds or Vespers take about 15 to 20 minutes, if that.
Yes, if one wants to participate in the official Liturgy of the Church, then one should say the entire “hour”.
It all depends on whether one is intent of praying, and in doing so, participating in the Liturgy; or if one is simply intent on praying, and finds a love of the psalms and canticles, and shortens it (or, for example, uses the Magnificat, which is abbreviated).
Either is perfectly fine. If it is a time constraint, then it is most certainly laudable to say part.
Yes, if one wants to participate in the official Liturgy of the Church, then one should say the entire “hour”.
It all depends on whether one is intent of praying, and in doing so, participating in the Liturgy; or if one is simply intent on praying, and finds a love of the psalms and canticles, and shortens it (or, for example, uses the Magnificat, which is abbreviated).
Either is perfectly fine. If it is a time constraint, then it is most certainly laudable to say part.
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Eichelbaum
Guest
I agree, so long as we understand that a prayer from the heart is worth far more than one from the head, and that closely adhering to formality does not necessarily imply that one is praying well.
IMHO, we laity need to balance our approach to the LOTH, and we should be neither legalistic about it, and neither should we be utterly laxist and do as we please.
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GoGoDiego
Guest
While Give us this Day and Magnificat helps promote daily prayer, it does not equate to the Liturgy. It does not join the praise sung by the church around the throne of the Lamb, liturgically speaking.Our family prays the morning and evening prayers in Magnificat magazine every day, and I do the night prayer as well.
magnificat.com
If you want simplified LOTH, you may omit some parts, but it ceases to be the liturgy of the Church. If you do not want resort to that, then do not pray the LOTH. The laity are not obliged to pray that anyway.
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drforjc
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Yes, certainly we should be praying always from the heart.
Objectively, though, there is a difference between private prayer and Liturgy. In the Liturgy, be it at Mass, LOTH, or any sacrament, one is united with the whole Church, Militant, Suffering, and Triumphant as the Bride speaking to Bridegroom.
Following the rubrics, IMO, is not being “legalistic.” It is simply praying with the Chuch.
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Eichelbaum
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Of course, I consider it rather unfair to tell someone to avoid a form of prayer simply because their doing so is not liturgical.
The merit and efficacy of the LOTH is of course rooted in the authority of the Church’s intercession, but it is not unimportant to consider the interior disposition of the one who is praying as well.
Someone who is praying the LOTH, even in an abbreviated form, out of a sincere love for Jesus will of course be pleasing to Him — and He will give far more graces than we can imagine, because He is generous and utterly in love with us. Let’s not undermine that or discourage people from pursuing God in sincerity and in truth. Let’s also remember that little things done out of great love are incredibly meritorious.
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pensmama87
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I never said it was.
I don’t think regular prayer with my family is only something I have to “resort to.” It suits my/our spiritual needs at present and I thought it might also be of use to the OP. The distinction you are making is probably not of much use to the typical layperson.
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OraLabora
Guest
First of all, liturgical prayer is above all public, even if prayed in private, just as a privately-said Mass remains public prayer.
In neither case it is permissible to leave out elements unless the rubrics specify them as optional, nor is it permissible to change anything, again unless the rubrics specify that there are other options.
That said, concerning prayer from the heart, I think monastics take an entirely different approach. The difference between a monk praying the Divine Office is that he builds his life around the Divine Office. For the laity, the opposite is true, we take those hours of the Divine Office which can fit our lives without causing us to fail in our primary duty, the care of our families and all that is associated with that (e.g. our jobs). The liturgy requires only two things of the laity: that we pray the Office that we can pray, in accordance with the rubrics, and two, that we respect the verity of the hour (i.e. we don’t pray Lauds at dinnertime). The rest is up to us. It’s not too much to ask really. We don’t even have to pray it every single day.
However, yes, there is a mechanistic element to it. The monks pray it out of obligation. The reality for a monk, is that some days his heart is in it, and some days, it isn’t. This is normal. They’re just human like the rest of us. The beauty of doing the LOTH on a regular basis, no matter how many Hours we can fit into our day, is that like the monks it becomes a prayer mechanism that with time better disposes our hearts to prayer. It becomes a habit. I can’t tell you the number of times I went into my small oratory to pray the LOTH when feeling down, anxious, grumpy, and just “not into God at the moment” where the praying of the Office had a transformational effect. Disposition is a two-way communication and God senses when we need Him to touch our hearts even if we don’t at the moment recognize it ourselves.
The LOTH on a daily basis is like water flowing against a rock, it sculpts us with time. Suddenly in a situation a psalm or scripture verse will pop in our heads that makes sense of the situation, appeases us, or shows us the way. The LOTH is a form of lectio divina; it takes time and slowly drills its way into our psyches.
Like the monks, nobody who prays the LOTH on a daily basis will always be doing so with the appropriate interior disposition every single time. Our lives are far too messy for that. However on many days, our hearts will be indeed be on the same frequency as God’s, and the whole thing will suddenly make a lot of sense, and one finally understands how monks can drag themselves to choir day after day after day, and in the case of the local abbey, 7 times each day.
Yes, private devotional prayer is laudable and necessary. The monks who pray 7 times a day also take time to pray privately, in their own way, during the day, something that can be done even when working (and even working itself, done for God, is prayer). But liturgical prayer is on a different plane altogether. It is laudable in its own right regardless of our disposition of the moment, and eventually the prayer itself provides the necessary disposition, often as I mentioned, by complete surprise.
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GoGoDiego
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You have a point. But although, as mentioned previously, we are to pray it in the form approved by the church. You cannot just simply shorten or omit something that is formal liturgy (unless indicated). Maybe, if you have no time, recite a well known psalm and a Gloria Patri in place of omitting some parts of the LOTH.
I said that not to degrade people who pray LOTH or some devotional form whatsoever. I too pray the LOTH. But there are times for us laypersons, that we might as well pray personally if we do not have time for Lauds, Vespers or Compline rather than (illicitly) shortening the liturgy according to our own needs.
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Horton
Guest
Thank you for this ^^^^^. I have the Christian Prayer which I use to pray Evening Prayer or Night Prayer. I do my best to pray it correctly, and quite honestly there are times when it’s more of a “I have to pray now” rather than a “It is time to join the Church in prayer” but I always feel more at peace when done regardless of my attitude when starting.
I would love to have the devotion to pray more of the Hours or even all of them, but…well it’s a work in progress.
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