Liturgy of the Hours

[iarwain]

I recently picked up a four volume set of the Liturgy of the Hours, something I've wanted for a long time. I've heard that using the books can be confusing, and that's an understatement. Basically I'm wanting to know is there a way to figure out which prayers are prayed at which times, using only the books as a reference? I'm a little baffled by how they are organized. I'm sure they must follow some sort of logical organization, but it's hard to find.

Fortunately, the books came with a supplement pamphlet for 2023 and for 2024, which tell you what pages go with what days. Is it necessary to get one of these supplements every year in order to use the books?

I've heard that laymen might be better off starting off reading one or two of the hours every day, instead of attempting them all. This makes sense to me, and I've been trying to pray the Compline hour (nighttime prayer).

Does anyone here pray the liturgy? I think awhile back our local Catholic Church were praying the morning prayers in lieu of the daily Mass during weekdays? I find it an interesting practice, even if I don't fully understand it. From what I know, the Hours are based somewhat on Christ's last hours on earth, and are divided into Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline, and Matins. I think priests are supposed to pray these in their entirety, and I believe monks do. If you do all these at the suggested hours, you're not going to get a full night's sleep.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

You can follow along here Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary) until you get use to praying the Divine Office.

Generally, it's best to learn by praying the office with a group, like Discalced Carmelites, who use
the four volume set by the Catholic Book Publishing Company. Keep in mind that the LOTH's was
designed with the intention of being prayed in a group. As a result, it's not necessary to sing the
hymns if you are praying alone.

My wife and myself are inactive members of the Discalced Carmelites Secular, OCDS. Part of
our constitution(rule) is the pray morning and evening prayer of the LOTHs, daily.

Being retired, I now pray the Office of the Readings, followed by Centering Prayer, then I pray
the Morning Office.

Note, if you go to a monastery like the Benedictines or Trappist, they follow their own LOTHs
which is a two-week cycle. The Catholic Book company version is a four-week cycle and will
not coincide with theirs.

 

[iarwain]

Thanks for that, I wasn't really expecting a reply since this doesn't look like a particularly active subforum. I knew there were websites about the LOFH, but the one you linked to looks very easy to follow. I guess you're saying that at some point you would be able to figure out what prayers are needed without referring to the site?

I was aware that you usually pray this in a group. But full disclosure, I am not a practicing Catholic. I was raised Catholic (for which I am very grateful), but in middle school I was "evangelized" by a group of Protestants. As life has gone on, however, I regret falling away from the Catholic Church. I think the religion, and the Mass, is very beautiful, and I have a fascination and great admiration for monks. I have a few (relatively minor) quibbles with Catholic Doctrine, and unfortunately I allowed them to separate me from Catholicism. I realized after some time I would never find a church that was "perfect" (in a certain sense of the word). But I'm always thinking about returning to the Catholic Church. In any case, I found the LOTH fascinating, and I've found my limited experience with it very rewarding.

Sometimes I've followed along with the prayers on YouTube, and as you note they are usually sung. I kind of prefer to merely say/read them, since that allows me to move at my own pace (which is usually quicker than singing). Except for the hymns, of course.

 

[The Liturgist]

Thanks for that, I wasn't really expecting a reply since this doesn't look like a particularly active subforum. I knew there were websites about the LOFH, but the one you linked to looks very easy to follow. I guess you're saying that at some point you would be able to figure out what prayers are needed without referring to the site?

I was aware that you usually pray this in a group. But full disclosure, I am not a practicing Catholic. I was raised Catholic (for which I am very grateful), but in middle school I was "evangelized" by a group of Protestants. As life has gone on, however, I regret falling away from the Catholic Church. I think the religion, and the Mass, is very beautiful, and I have a fascination and great admiration for monks. I have a few (relatively minor) quibbles with Catholic Doctrine, and unfortunately I allowed them to separate me from Catholicism. I realized after some time I would never find a church that was "perfect" (in a certain sense of the word). But I'm always thinking about returning to the Catholic Church. In any case, I found the LOTH fascinating, and I've found my limited experience with it very rewarding.

Sometimes I've followed along with the prayers on YouTube, and as you note they are usually sung. I kind of prefer to merely say/read them, since that allows me to move at my own pace (which is usually quicker than singing). Except for the hymns, of course.

You know, for personal individual use, there are a number of officially sanctioned prayer books that contain morning and evening prayer that are easier to use than the Liturgy of the Hours, historically known as the Divine Office, and more oriented towards lay usage. There are also the traditional Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also the Office of the Dead, which follow the pattern of the Divine Office but which are more invariant.

Regarding the time of day, by the way, this can be somewhat arbitrary depending on who is using it, but generally, Lauds and the Office of Readings, which replaced Matins, are prayed in the morning, and then Midday Prayer including the Third, Sixth and Ninth hours could happen at those literal hours (9 AM, noon and 3 PM), but it could also all be done together, and likewise, one could pray Vespers in the afternoon or evening and if doing it in the evening before bed, include compline, or otherwise pray compline later at night.

I have a single-volume version of the Liturgy of the Hours. I also really enjoy the traditional Divine Office which one can find on this site, which updates it with the propers (the variable portions) for each day throughout the year (and also the traditional mass):

Divinum Officium

Divine Office

www.divinumofficium.com

However if all of this is too challenging, the use of a prayer book or something like the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is very common among the laity.

Also, as a fun fact, in the old version of the Office there was a service called Prime, said at the first hour, 7 AM, and in Europe in the 1100s-1600s people would learn to read Latin using Prime, and books called Primers, and many laity would pray Prime specifically from their Primers, and nobility would receive in their youth primers which were in many cases exquisite illuminated manuscripts with beautiful illustrations. Prime has always been a little bit longer than the midday hours of Terce, Sext and Noone. It was omitted from the present version of the Liturgy of the Hours, but it remains in use among Roman Catholic communities attached to the traditional Latin mass.

 

[The Liturgist]

You can follow along here Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary) until you get use to praying the Divine Office.

Generally, it's best to learn by praying the office with a group, like Discalced Carmelites, who use
the four volume set by the Catholic Book Publishing Company. Keep in mind that the LOTH's was
designed with the intention of being prayed in a group. As a result, it's not necessary to sing the
hymns if you are praying alone.

My wife and myself are inactive members of the Discalced Carmelites Secular, OCDS. Part of
our constitution(rule) is the pray morning and evening prayer of the LOTHs, daily.

Being retired, I now pray the Office of the Readings, followed by Centering Prayer, then I pray
the Morning Office.

Note, if you go to a monastery like the Benedictines or Trappist, they follow their own LOTHs
which is a two-week cycle. The Catholic Book company version is a four-week cycle and will
not coincide with theirs.

Oh that’s also really useful, since that has the current version, so now I no longer have to look it up in my book. Thank you!

By the way, each of the ancient churches has its own variant of the Divine Office, so the Eastern Catholic Churches such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church or the Coptic Catholic Church, and their Eastern and Oriental Orthodox counterparts, have their own versions of the Divine Office. The Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches I have noticed tend to, like the Orthdoox churches, do more frequent communal services of the Divine Office than most Roman Rite parish churches, with the exception of the Maronite church. Now Vatican II really wanted to change this, indeed the Roman Church has wanted to increase public attendance at the Divine Office and make it less of a private devotion for clergy, for several centuries, but it has been difficult to get the momentum going to do that in some cases, especially away from cathedrals and monasteries where you have the resources.

That said I do know of one local Catholic Church that does have many people pray Vespers from the Liturgy of the Hours on Saturday, when they also have the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in a gorgeous tabernacle. When visiting that parish, which is a very modern parish that features a soothing indoor waterfall in the narthex that feeds the baptismal fonts and Holy Water fonts but which still has a beautiful organ, and which feels very traditional, despite its unusual architecture, I have seen many very pious Catholics from India arrive on Saturday for devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. This parish, which I forget the name of, is in Westlake Village, California.

 

[iarwain]

Regarding the time of day, by the way, this can be somewhat arbitrary depending on who is using it, but generally, Lauds and the Office of Readings, which replaced Matins, are prayed in the morning, and then Midday Prayer including the Third, Sixth and Ninth hours could happen at those literal hours (9 AM, noon and 3 PM), but it could also all be done together, and likewise, one could pray Vespers in the afternoon or evening and if doing it in the evening before bed, include compline, or otherwise pray compline later at night.

Okay, that helps clear up some confusion. I've been wondering what "Office of Readings" meant. I guess you learn a little bit at a time.

I've seen some of the shorter books, and I'm sure they're less confusing. But I've wanted a four volume copy of Liturgy of the Hours for a long time now.

 

[The Liturgist]

Okay, that helps clear up some confusion. I've been wondering what "Office of Readings" meant. I guess you learn a little bit at a time.

I've seen some of the shorter books, and I'm sure they're less confusing. But I've wanted a four volume copy of Liturgy of the Hours for a long time now.

I myself have a huge collection of liturgical books because I enjoy reading them. I have enough to celebrate the Byzantine Rite Divine Office, which takes about five of them.

 

[The Liturgist]

Oh by the way @larwin you might find this thread interesting: How to Pray the Ancient and Powerful Office of the Dead

 

[RileyG]

I've prayed the Hours with Benedictine sisters when I was in college. They used their own four week Psalter. I recommend praying them in a group, because it is the official prayer of the Church, if you can.

God bless

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Praying the LOTH's connects the Mass and the Hymns. It's a good way
to learn Scripture and to use Scripture as prayer. These are the prayers said
daily in English throughout the Catholic Church. I was amazed to learn
how the Mass is connected to the LOTH's.

There is a guide booklet that goes with the Breviary which it comes out annually.
There is one for the four-volume set and another for the single edition of
Christian Prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours. They are available on Amazon,
but make sure you order the correct one. It only cost a couple of dollars,
but my wife orders ours so I'm out of touch on the cost for 2024.

The latest for 2024, isn't available yet on Amazon, but it should be released soon.

 

[The Liturgist]

Praying the LOTH's connects the Mass and the Hymns. It's a good way
to learn Scripture and to use Scripture as prayer. These are the prayers said
daily in English throughout the Catholic Church. I was amazed to learn
how the Mass is connected to the LOTH's.

There is a guide booklet that goes with the Breviary which it comes out annually.
There is one for the four-volume set and another for the single edition of
Christian Prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours. They are available on Amazon,
but make sure you order the correct one. It only cost a couple of dollars,
but my wife orders ours so I'm out of touch on the cost for 2024.

The latest for 2024, isn't available yet on Amazon, but it should be released soon.

I have the single volume book, so that is good to know, particularly since our friend @larwain has the four volume set.

My theological library is so large I think if I had to add another three volumes it would literally explode.

I’m not even joking. The books in my shelf are packed in so tightly together it is difficult to remove one of them, and I have to check the angle they are at to make sure they don’t get shelf slant from the strain. Still other books, used less frequently, are carefully stacked vertically, which is safe provided the stack is no more than six or seven books, the idea is you don’t want to put too much weight on any of the books in the stack as this can also warp the binding, the main books you have to be careful about in this case being heavy books in the octavo or quarto form, since these can do real damage to a think leather cover on a folio-sized volume (typically the largest books in your library will be the folios, then the quartos, then the octavos will be among the more compact, but they are still reasonably large, and can be quite heavy, hence the need for caution). Fortunately I have, as is often the case, much more shelf space for quartos and octavos than folios, so it is mainly fragile folios which I have vertically stacked, as well as small paperback prayer books and deacon’s service books.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

There is a new English translation of the LOTH's coming out, so I would be reluctant to
invest in the four volume set right now. I'm not sure of the release date for this.
My wife and myself went with the single volume of Christian Prayer, the LOTH's
for a few years. If not for a friend giving my wife the four volume set, we probably
would've held off, being two four volume sets would've cost us over $300.
If you're only praying the Morning and Evening Prayer, the single volume matches
the four volume set. However, if you're retired like me and have time to pray the
Office of the Readings, then the four volume set is the best bet.

 

[iarwain]

I've prayed the Hours with Benedictine sisters when I was in college.

Oh, that sounds very cool. Did you pray all of them or just certain ones during the day?

 

[RileyG]

Oh, that sounds very cool. Did you pray all of them or just certain ones during the day?

Just Vespers and Lauds. They had noon-prayer and compline privately

 

[chevyontheriver]

I recently picked up a four volume set of the Liturgy of the Hours, something I've wanted for a long time. I've heard that using the books can be confusing, and that's an understatement. Basically I'm wanting to know is there a way to figure out which prayers are prayed at which times, using only the books as a reference? I'm a little baffled by how they are organized. I'm sure they must follow some sort of logical organization, but it's hard to find.

I find it confusing too. I struggle with it after years.

Fortunately, the books came with a supplement pamphlet for 2023 and for 2024, which tell you what pages go with what days. Is it necessary to get one of these supplements every year in order to use the books?

For me the supplements are invaluable. Also, although not exactly the same, Magnificat lays it all out for each day.

I've heard that laymen might be better off starting off reading one or two of the hours every day, instead of attempting them all. This makes sense to me, and I've been trying to pray the Compline hour (nighttime prayer).

My wife and I listen and pray along with an on-line Compline. AND there are only seven versions of Compline, once for each day of the week.

Does anyone here pray the liturgy? I think awhile back our local Catholic Church were praying the morning prayers in lieu of the daily Mass during weekdays? I find it an interesting practice, even if I don't fully understand it. From what I know, the Hours are based somewhat on Christ's last hours on earth, and are divided into Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline, and Matins. I think priests are supposed to pray these in their entirety, and I believe monks do. If you do all these at the suggested hours, you're not going to get a full night's sleep.

My goal is morning prayer and evening prayer and Compline. But my schedule is otherwise very random doing contract work. I do value praying along with an on-line thing far more than reading it and hoping I'm not mangling it. Listening, then I know someone else has figured it out. I respect people who can figure it all out.

 

[chevyontheriver]

There is a new English translation of the LOTH's coming out, so I would be reluctant to
invest in the four volume set right now. I'm not sure of the release date for this.
My wife and myself went with the single volume of Christian Prayer, the LOTH's
for a few years. If not for a friend giving my wife the four volume set, we probably
would've held off, being two four volume sets would've cost us over $300.
If you're only praying the Morning and Evening Prayer, the single volume matches
the four volume set. However, if you're retired like me and have time to pray the
Office of the Readings, then the four volume set is the best bet.

I've heard of a revised translation coming and am hoping it comes soon. I want to give it a look. I had also tried the Ordinariate office.

 

[RileyG]

I've heard of a revised translation coming and am hoping it comes soon. I want to give it a look. I had also tried the Ordinariate office.

Where did you get the Ordinariate office from?

Just curious

 

[chevyontheriver]

Where did you get the Ordinariate office from?

Just curious

Deacon Simons at St. Barnabas in Omaha NE. Don't know if he has any more.

By the way, there is a difference between the Walsingham (Great Britain) and the Chair of St Peter (North America) Ordinariates in the books they follow. The USA version is a slimmer version and the Great Britain version has way more pages. I'm not up on the exact differences but I think it comes down to the version here having few of the supplemental readings and the Walsingham one having all of them.

Divine Worship: The Missal

ordinariate.net

 

[joymercy]

Last night I listened to the Hollow app, for their night prayer of the liturgy of the hours-and its free.

Its so beautiful, and only a few minutes time. Its so very much worth it.

Just snuggle down into bed and pray from your heart

 

[JimR-OCDS]

FYI, my wife and myself used the single volume, Christian Prayer, The Liturgy of the Hours, for years
when we became members of an OCDS community. Morning and Evening Prayers are the
same as the four volume set.

At that time, we both worked and only had time for morning and evening prayer anyway,
and the single volume is much cheaper.

Eventually, I began to teach the LOTH's during Lent in my parish, and I had the four volume set, and let
others borrow my single volumes. I learned that during Lent, the prayers are the same and it made teaching
easier.

In all, you have to pray the LOTH's daily to get the idea on how to use it.

The Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary) link wasn't available when we first started praying the LOTH's. In fact, this forum didn't exist either.

Using the link above, surely will help people learn how to pray the office.

FYI, there are little differences on the traditions used by religious orders. The Discalced Carmelites have a slight
difference than that at the Divine Office. So, if you don't belong to a religious community, just use the Divine
Office link.