Thank you, Cothrige, for your reply. What I need to know is how do you know which psalms to recite on a certain day.
I will be glad to share with you how my book works. But, of course this will not necessarily be identical to what your book has. I will also trust the many more experienced than I am to correct any errors I make. So, with that, here goes.
What is now called Morning Prayer usually begins with Matins, which is now called the Office of Readings, and historically was said in the middle of the night. This begins with the Invitatory, Ps. 94, and you follow from there straight through until you get to the Nocturns. On Sunday, Monday and Thursday you say the First Nocturn (Ps. 8, 18, 23). On Tuesday and Friday you say the Second Nocturn (Ps. 44, 45, 86). On Wednesday and Saturday it is the Third (Ps. 95, 96, 97). After that you simply go through the rest of Matins paying attention to any rubrics which apply.
After that you proceed to Lauds, which is Morning Prayer proper. That uses Ps. 92, 99 & 62, the Canticle of the Three Children, Ps. 148, & the Benedictus (Canticle of Zachary). Prime, which can close Morning Prayer, uses Ps. 53, 84, 116. (BTW, I generally don’t say Prime, but that may be wrong. I tend to say Matins and Lauds in the AM, and Vespers & Compline in the evening.)
The Little Hours of Terce, Sext and None use Ps 119 through 127. I really don’t say these hours. By the way, the traditional “hours” associated with these is Lauds at dawn, Prime is 6, Terce is 9, Sext is 12, None is 3.
Vespers, Evening Prayer, uses Ps. 109, 112, 121, 126, 147, and the Magnificat (Canticle of Mary). Complin, which is basically Night Prayer, has Ps. 128, 129, 130 & the Nunc Dimittis (Canticle of Simeon).
Of course, most likely your edition will include these in a simple straightforward fashion, one simply following right upon the other. If you are like me you may actually be expecting something much more complicated than is really used. For instance, the current Little Office uses different Psalms on each day, but this does not happen in the PreVII method. The only variations really are the Nocturns at Matins, the various antiphons which can move with the season, (Before Advent, Advent & Christmas), and the Te Deum. So basically you just read it straight through.
BTW, perhaps someone can clarify something for me. I have always been curious about the antiphons. They always proceed the Psalm with just a couple of words, and then are given in their entirety after. Is that how they are read, i.e. two words before and wholly after, or is one supposed to read the entire antiphon in both places, looking forward to see what it is? I have never seen this addressed anywhere, and all the instructions say just to read it straight through, so I have presumed that you do it exactly as written. But, I will admit that I am not entirely confident on this matter.
Good luck, and let me know if I have hopelessly confused this.
Patrick
Hello, I am new here , but I have been reading the threads, and I wanted to jump in to this conversation. I bought a red covered version of the Little Office, it was published by Benziger Bros. in 1904 and republished with help from Fr. Lasance through St. Bonaventure Publications in 1999. I never did the devotion before and wanted to learn how to pray it. Unfortunately… it does not give any instruction, and I have not been able to get much help on the subject. To the folks who know, can you offer any help? I thank you in advance .