Which Liturgy of the Hours translation?

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Odell

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Well once I get good with Shorter Christian Prayer. I want the best possible translation for Liturgy of the Hours. I was looking on Amazon and came across this review on Christian Prayer

It suffers from some serious problems. I’ll begin with the artwork. It’s atrocious. Books of the Hours have historically been some of the most beautifully illustrated books in history. Christian Prayer, instead, is full of faceless, guitar-strumming angels in 1970’s-modernist style. You’re buying the book for the prayers, not the art, but still, what is presented should be edifying and focus prayer instead of provoking disgust.
Second, the hymns included are bad–really bad. There are a few good ones, but mostly they are banal modernist garbage. Many of them are Protestant. “Morning has Broken” was tolerable as a Cat Stevens song–as a LOTH hymn it’s absurd. It was written by a Protestant authoress, originally published in a Protestant hymnal. It gets better. One day during the Easter season I was given the choice of a hymn by Martin Luther–or another one by Martin Luther! Martin Luther, great heretic, providing hymns for the Catholic LOTH. Can’t we do better?
The third problem is that the texts of the prayers come from the dreadful 1960’s ICEL. What they did can hardly be called “translation”. For example, once where the Latin literally renders “may we always be consoled by your mercy,” the translation is, “give us confidence in your love.” Of course! A sinner pleads for mercy from God’s wrath. How much nicer “love” sounds! Yes, God loves us too, but this translation demolishes the meaning of the original text. This kind of stuff is all over the place, and don’t get me started on the intercessions.
If you want to pray the LOTH, your best bet is to wait for Baronius Press to complete their pre-conciliar Latin/English edition. Otherwise, I’d recommend staying away from this version.

What do you think? And is there an alternative to the one they recommend by Baronius Press?
 
If you want to pray the modern Liturgy of the Hours, you need to use the Latin (Liturgia Horarum) or else the translation approved for your region. For the USA, that’s ICEL’s version, the one you are talking about, as published by Catholic Book Publishing.

I understand what you are saying about the hymns. Really we shouldn’t be praying the hymns listed in the Psalter outside of Ordinary Time anyway - we should be using the seasonal hymnody. But a lot of the hymnody, seasonal, proper, or in the Psalter, is vastly different from the real Latin hymns of our liturgical heritage. They in most cases have no correlation to what’s in the modern Latin Liturgia Horarum.

You could do what I do. I use ICEL’s Liturgy of the Hours, but oftentimes I use the Liber Hymnarius for the hymnody. The Liber Hymnarius has all of the official Latin hymnody of the modern Liturgia Horarum, pointed for Gregorian chant. It is an official liturgical book of the Roman Rite, and was compiled by Solesmes Abbey in France. (Solesmes has for over a century been sort of in charge of the restoration and renewal of Gregorian chant for the Roman Rite.) To be clear, this book is entirely in Latin. There is unfortunately no officially approved liturgical translation of most of the Latin hymnody.

I also always use the seasonal hymnody outside of Ordinary Time, always use the full Invitatory with Psalm 94/5, use the Compline Marian Antiphons according to the traditional arrangement (still permitted but not required), and never use the Psalm-prayers or Alternative Prayers (which are always optional and were composed by or for ICEL, and are not in the Latin at all). I very much look forward to the next translation of the Liturgy of the Hours, a proper translation rather than adaptation, but I suspect that that is many years off.

The Roman Breviary published by Baronius, when it comes out, I’m sure will be beautiful. But keep in mind that only the Latin side is the official Liturgy of the Church. The English side I don’t believe will be approved for liturgical use. Universae Ecclesiae says that if the Breviary of 1962 is prayed, it is to be in Latin.
 
Bbigam said:
I

The Roman Breviary published by Baronius, when it comes out, I’m sure will be beautiful. But keep in mind that only the Latin side is the official Liturgy of the Church. The English side I don’t believe will be approved for liturgical use. Universae Ecclesiae says that if the Breviary of 1962 is prayed, it is to be in Latin.
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Part of the beauty of the Liturgy of the Hours is meditating on the psalms as you pray them. If someone doesn’t know Latin then praying the LOTH in Latin seems to defeat the purpose.

I was on retreat at a monastery that only chants the psalms in Latin. While it was beautiful and I could follow the chant, looking back and forth between the Latin and the English translation didn’t allow me to meditate on the text.
 
BARONIUS PRESS…Roman Breviary - Breviarium Romanum

baroniuspress.com/forthcoming_titles.php?wid=12

Go to the link…great pictures and views of layout/ text…this publication will be exquisitely beautiful.

In my opinion…this will soon be the best LOH on the “market”…spiritually and commercially…but it will not be the “NOVUS-LOH”…the one used by the vast majority praying the full LOH each day. I currently use the 4-volume “NOVUS-LOH”…and I would agree with the Amazon critique…it can make you “gag” at times…but I still look forward each and every day to praying the LOH in the “NOVUS-LOH”…as official Liturgy of the Church…while praying it…I am in prayerful communion with my bishop and his priests, religious, his laity and through my bishop…I am in communion with the Pope himself…The V Vicar of Christ on earth…and all the bishops in communion with him…worldwide…quite a privilege and honor…this fact is always awe inspiring to me!

The questions that I am wrestling with are:

How long before the “NOVUS-LOH” is revised…I understand that the English speaking bishops’ conferences have agreed to do so…but it may take 10-15 years like the Roman Missal 3rd Edition…??

Also…switching to the 1962 Breviary that BARONIUS PRESS is re-publishing…I wonder about harmonizing the Church’s calendar…will I always be “out-of-synch” with the USCCB and my bishop?..I know this 1962 version is approved but still I wonder how close I will be to the “norm” on any given day…feast?

Hope this is helpful…
Pax Christi


Roman Breviary - Breviarium Romanum
Latin-English Breviary [side-by-side]
Flexible cover (Black Leather), Size: 4.5" x 7", Item No: 5500, 3-Volume Set, 6,064 pages
Vol. I – 1952 pages
Vol. II – 2144 pages
Vol. III – 1968 pages
$350/ £230 (provisional price, to be confirmed at pre-ordering stage)
Baronius Press is delighted to announce that its new edition of the Roman Breviary in English and Latin has now gone to press. This will be the first time since the 1960s that a bilingual version of the Roman Breviary of 1961 has been published. It will be an invaluable set of books for all those attached to the traditional Roman Breviary, in the form approved by Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum. We extend our most profuse apologies to all those who have been disappointed by the delays which have beset the projects. For more details click here.
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Summary of features:
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6,064 pages printed in black and red, text of all hours in Latin and English with rubrics in English.
Concordat cum orginali – meaning the Latin text is approved by the Church for liturgical use, Imprimatur and foreword from Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz STD of Lincoln.
Based on the popular three-volume Breviary published by Collegeville in 1963.
St. Jerome’s traditional Gallican Psalter from the Vulgate is used throughout.
English version of Psalms thoroughly revised to match the Gallican Psalter.
Follows rubrics promulgated by Blessed Pope John XXIII – the form of the traditional Breviary approved in Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum.
Scriptural texts in English follow the Confraternity translation (a 1940s revision of Challoner’s Douai-Rheims Bible), which have been revised where necessary to conform to the Vulgate text.
Contains Penitential Psalms and the Office for the Dead.
Full texts of national feasts for the USA included in the Proper of Saints. National feasts for England & Wales, Scotland and Australasia indicated in the Proper on the dates they occur.
English versions of hymns in the acclaimed translation of the Rev. Joseph Connelly.
Thirty engravings throughout, which have been selected from traditional liturgical books, carefully scanned, and re-mastered – correcting any defects in images where necessary.
Extracts from the Rituale Romanum (including the most commonly used litanies) given in Latin with English rubrics in an Appendix.
Full text of relevant motu proprio (Pope John XXIII’s Rubricarum Instructum and Pope Benedict’s Summorum Pontificum) in Latin and English.
Thirteen Cards with commonly used prayers in Latin and English.
All texts of the Cards also gathered in a handy booklet – in addition to being on the cards.
Booklet containing common texts and basic instructions for praying for the Day Hours of the Breviary. Both booklets are sized to conveniently fit at the back of each volume.
A free copy of Learning the Traditional Breviary is included with all orders.
Flexible cover, leather bound with edge stitching for extra durability.
Printed on light cream Bible paper.
Beautifully printed endpapers
Gold gilt page edges and rounded corners.
Six soft ribbons.
Slipcase provided for each volume for additional protection.
The estimated time for the Breviary to be produced and delivered to our warehouse is 3-4 months. We estimate that we will be able to start shipping copies to customers around the beginning of August 2011. God willing, customers should have their copies in time for the Feast of the Assumption.
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$350 is a bit steep.

Having said that, I sort of collect prayer books and would not mind looking at it.

But alas, I am bound to pray the current version of the LoTH by the constitutions of my Order.
 
Joannm said:
I was on retreat at a monastery that only chants the psalms in Latin. While it was beautiful and I could follow the chant, **looking back and forth between the Latin and the English translation **didn’t allow me to meditate on the text.
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We used to call that cheating. :D:D

Not to worry, though, we all do that. Like training wheels on a bike. If you can follow the chant, especially the long ones, you’re halfway home.
 
Joannm said:
$350 is more than twice the price of the 4 volume LOTH.
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I’d guess economies of scale are at play here.

Also, traditional prayer books, such as the Baronius Press breviary often exceed the capabilities of the usual modern bookbinding machines (by, for example, having too many ribbons) and thus are partly produced by hand, driving up the price.

These are the also the same reasons why traditional Altar missals go for up to $500

cantius.org/go/webstore/product/1962_missale_romanum/

(although you can get it cheaper)

angeluspress.org/oscatalog/item/8344R/missale-romanum
 
Joannm said:
I was on retreat at a monastery that only chants the psalms in Latin. While it was beautiful and I could follow the chant, looking back and forth between the Latin and the English translation didn’t allow me to meditate on the text.
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One can’t meditate on the Latin text without looking at the English?

Actually if you can follow the chant, especially the expanded version, you’re halfway home. Just saying.
 
Brother David,

Let me see if I understand what you’re saying. There is “praying with the Church” and praying as a “personal devotion”.

Generally Speaking
If a member of the laity wants to pray with the Church using the LOTH in English the options are “Shorter Christian Prayer”, “Christian Prayer” and the 4 Vol of the Liturgy of the Hours by Catholic Book Publishing.

The laity can pray any other devotion it chooses in English, there have been many mentioned on this thread and others on the catholic.com forums, but in doing so is praying as a personal devotion. Which is ok for laity.

Exceptions
There are specific orders that have permission to pray English versions of brevaries but, whatever the issue(s), these exceptions are only valid for those specific orders that have an exception granted.

So, for laity it comes down to do I want to pray “as a personal devotion?” or “with the church?”. Is that a high level summary?
 
Revert_43 said:
Brother David,

Let me see if I understand what you’re saying. There is “praying with the Church” and praying as a “personal devotion”.

Generally Speaking
If a member of the laity wants to pray with the Church using the LOTH in English the options are “Shorter Christian Prayer”, “Christian Prayer” and the 4 Vol of the Liturgy of the Hours by Catholic Book Publishing.
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In the United States this is so. The current Liturgy of the Hours in Latin and the old one in Latin are approved by the Church and usable in all regions.
The laity can pray any other devotion it chooses in English, there have been many mentioned on this thread and others on the catholic.com forums, but in doing so is praying as a personal devotion. Which is ok for laity.
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Right.
Exceptions
There are specific orders that have permission to pray English versions of brevaries but, whatever the issue(s), these exceptions are only valid for those specific orders that have an exception granted.
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I do not know what you mean by this. Do you mean there are specific religious institutes that have permission to pray the old Latin Breviary in English? If so I am not aware of them. The old Breviary is in Latin and those communities that are for the explicit celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass may use it but I would think they would do so in Latin and not need any permission to do so or to do it in English.
So, for laity it comes down to do I want to pray “as a personal devotion?” or “with the church?”. Is that a high level summary?
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That’s it!

I am very happy that someone understands what I have been trying to say.
 
Odell said:
What do you mean? And is there any good LOTH that are meant to be chanted?
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Just because something is approved by the USCCB does not mean it is approved for use in the Liturgies.

All LoTH versions can be chanted. There are a number of houses within my O.Carm. province that chant the current 4 volume LoTH.
 
If you go to www.rosaryshop.com you can download for free or purchase a LoTH tutorial that discusses a way to chant the current English LoTH (Shorter Christian Prayer, Christian Prayer, the 4 Vol LoTH). I have this tutorial and think it’s an excellent resource.
 
If you want to pray the LotH in Latin, and would like an edifying translation, then another option might be Lauds and Vespers. While the English translation is not approved for public worship, the Latin is. Granted, there is no Sanctoral Cycle (Proper of Saints, Commons, etc…), no Terce Sext & None for Day Prayer, and no Night Prayer. However, it is not too different from the* Shorter Christian Prayer*.

If you find yourself praying Morning and Evening Prayer primarily and you want to try out the Latin, then I think the above title would be helpful. I have it, myself.
 
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