The Liturgy Of The Hours

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Imcatholic7

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Hello! I am going to start praying the Liturgy Of The Hours and I am pretty much a beginner. I have a choice between the 4-volume Liturgy Of The Hours or the Christian Prayer Liturgy Of The Hours. Since I’m a beginner, anyone with experience with these 2 versions, which should I purchase? Or would either one be good? Also, do they say when to kneel, etc.?(I am also purchasing the Saint Joseph Guide For The Liturgy Of The Hours which makes a version for both book/books.)
Thanks!
 
Imcatholic7 said:
Hello! I am going to start praying the Liturgy Of The Hours and I am pretty much a beginner. I have a choice between the 4-volume Liturgy Of The Hours or the Christian Prayer Liturgy Of The Hours. Since I’m a beginner, anyone with experience with these 2 versions, which should I purchase? Or would either one be good? Also, do they say when to kneel, etc.?(I am also purchasing the Saint Joseph Guide For The Liturgy Of The Hours which makes a version for both book/books.)
Thanks!
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Start with the one volume Christian Prayer unless you also want to do the office of readings. It is less expensive and simpler.
 
Imcatholic7 said:
Hello! I am going to start praying the Liturgy Of The Hours and I am pretty much a beginner. I have a choice between the 4-volume Liturgy Of The Hours or the Christian Prayer Liturgy Of The Hours. Since I’m a beginner, anyone with experience with these 2 versions, which should I purchase? Or would either one be good? Also, do they say when to kneel, etc.?(I am also purchasing the Saint Joseph Guide For The Liturgy Of The Hours which makes a version for both book/books.)
Thanks!
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I have wanted to do this and have found it very hard to follow. Since you are starting off what are you using for a guide? Is the guide online?

Thank you

MIke
 
I recently began this, and chose the four-volume set. It’s expensive and difficult to get started, but I definitely wanted the full experience, so to speak (even though it’s rare I have time to pray all the hours of one day). My experience of the liturgical calendar has definitely been enhanced, and I’m not sure this would have been the case with Christian Prayer. Also, I really like the Office of Readings so I don’t regret my choice. Still, Christian Prayer was made for laypeople/beginners, so I’m sure for many people it’s an easier and more spiritually profitable choice.

I also bought the St. Joseph’s Guide, only to find that I didn’t need to: the set I bought came, to my surprise, with both this (which is extremely helpful, almost essential for beginners like us I’d say. Although I’m almost certain I’ve encountered an error in it) and a bunch of other supplemental material which I’ve found very helpful.

The only downside, besides the difficult nature of LOTH itself and the expense of the set, is that this set was printed in the 1970s, and the covers and little images on some of the pages are rather ugly, 70’s-style monstrosities. Also the volume for Advent and Christmas has a rather feminine and dated turquoise-blue color to the edges of the pages. A few unpleasant hymns and a dirth of thees and thous in prayers I already knew also are a little annoying, but that’s to be expected in liturgical material from this era, and for the most part the hymns are surprisingly good. Some additions to the liturgical calendar for the United States are absent in the volumes (Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha, for example), but the supplemental material they included with it covers them. I don’t know if newer, more modern publications exist.

The whole thing ought to be retranslated eventually, but it looks as though that won’t be for several years.
 
nordskoven said:
Is there an e-book liturgy of the hours?
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I don’t know. There is a lot of flipping back and forth between different parts of the book, just within a single office. I don’t know how easy this would be with a conventional e-book.

There are online versions available that put everything together in order. For some people this may be the best way to begin, possibly. Although not all online versions use an approved translation.

Personally I need good old-fashioned paper and ink in front of me to be comfortable in this kind of prayer or spiritual reading. No “e-prayer” for me (except, on occasion, the prayer intentions forum here of course). But that’s just my personal weirdness. If they were available I’d probably stick to hand-written books as much as possible. Modern printing is unpleasantly mechanical and impersonal, don’t you think? 😉
 
I have the print version, and to be honest I thought it difficult to use.

But fo about 15 bucks I bought the app from the app store for my phone. Now no page marking, get great music and office of readings.

One of the best investments I ever made.

I just pop in the head phones and read along as the prayers are read.

No iPhone? Divine Office has a web based daily readings just like the phone version.
 
I would suggest starting with Shorter Christian Prayer if you are a beginner. I started with that, and it served me well for several years. It includes Morning Prayer, Evening PRayer and Night prayer. It lacks some on selections for Lent and Advent, but for the rest of the year, it was perfect. Eventually I purchased Christian Prayer and used it for Lent and Advent, but reverted to SCP for the rest of the year.

SCP is fairly user friendly for the beginner.

Now-adays, I have a free App - ibreviaryHD, I think on my iPad, and if I want to pray the LOtH, I just download that particular day.
 
Imcatholic7 said:
Do you know if the 4-volume or christian prayer or both tell when to kneel, etc. Also, I heard the 4-volume does not include the melody for the hymn but just the words. True? Thanks!
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There is no kneeling in the LOTH. When you pray it alone you can basically do whatever you want, sit, kneel, lie down. When you pray in community is where the postures come in. You stand from the opening verse (when you bless yourself) until after the hymn. Sit for the psalms and canticles except stand and bow at the end of the psalm or canticle when you say the “Glory be to the Father…” up until after “…and to the Holy Spirit,” then you straighten up, finish the prayer, and sit for the next psalm. If the psalm prayers are prayed you stand for them. They are optional so they are not always prayed.

You sit for the readings and responsory and stand for the Gospel Canticle and bless yourself as you begin it. You remain standing for the intercessions, the Lord’s Prayer and until you come to the end of the concluding prayer.
 
Imcatholic7 said:
Do you know if the 4-volume or christian prayer or both tell when to kneel, etc. Also, I heard the 4-volume does not include the melody for the hymn but just the words. True? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Yes, the four-volume set just includes the words, and also the name of the melody. For those of us who can’t read music it makes no difference.
 
My wife and myself, both professed Secular Order Discalced Caremlites, used the shorter Christian Prayer breviary for about 15 years before we went to the 4 volume set.

Most people really don’t need the 4 volume set, for they’re not going to have the time to do the Office of the Readings along with morning prayer, but will probably do morning and evening prayer, on a regular basis. OCDS members must do morning and evening prayer, according to the Rule of Life.

Morning and Evening prayer in the short version is the same as the 4 volume set.

In fact, the short version contains the music for the hymns, where the 4 volume does not.

So, it’s a matter of how much time you have, but you can’t go wrong with the short version of Christian Prayer, The Liturgy of the Hours.

Jim
 
Yup. Christian Prayer also doesn’t repeat the antiphons (I’ve always wondered why–they aren’t that long).
 
Universalis is not the same as “Christian Prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours,” by the Catholic Book Publishing company.

divineoffice.org is, and you can use that sight, as well as use the free audio to help you learn.

They also have the page numbers for each day for both the 4 volume set and shorter breviary.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Universalis is not the same as “Christian Prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours,” by the Catholic Book Publishing company.

divineoffice.org is, and you can use that sight, as well as use the free audio to help you learn.

They also have the page numbers for each day for both the 4 volume set and shorter breviary.

Jim
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Divineoffice.org is the way to go but it does not contain e-books.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Universalis is not the same as “Christian Prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours,” by the Catholic Book Publishing company.

divineoffice.org is, and you can use that sight, as well as use the free audio to help you learn.

They also have the page numbers for each day for both the 4 volume set and shorter breviary.

Jim
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Does anyone who owns the 4-volume set from divineoffice.org know if it contains ALL of the daily prayers, not just the “morning prayer, daytime prayer, evening prayer, night prayer” Listed on the website? Thanks!
 
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