Thank you both for these fine recommendations! Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel im Spiegel” is the most moving piece I have ever heard. It always imparts to me a sense of longing and transcendence. It is otherworldly.
I'm delighted to see "Hearth and Field" in your suggestions. It has replaced the now-defunct
Taproot as a favorite whole living periodical. My second issue arrived this week and when he saw it
my spouse said 'That's not a magazine, that's a beautiful book!" I plan to give myself the hymnal for a birthday present. Thank you for that recommendation- it is hard to pick just a few things!
I had the chance to look at this edition for the first time recently. It's exactly the same as the Benedictine office except in King James-type English. For someone who wants to do the office only in English, it would be a great option. Still, I think it's best to work toward praying it in Latin, though that can take some time.
First hurdle: praying it at all (I already have 30-60 minutes of devotions I like to do each day, so working in another hour or so can be a challenge).
Second hurdle Latin. With no TLM easily available, this will take a bit longer. Check back in with me in two or three decades and I'll let you know how it's going. :-)
And just how different is the 1962 version from the earlier one?
The amount to work in depends entirely on how much of the breviary you'd like to pray. It can range from 5 minutes for a "little hour" (Terce, Sext, None) or 7-8 minutes for Prime or Compline, up to about 20 minutes for Lauds and 15-20 for Vespers (this, again, is if one is reciting it quietly to oneself).
The '62 edition is mostly the same in terms of the psalms and prayers. If you know about any of the changes to the missal from 1955 onward, then you will know how the office is different too: very few octaves, some saints & vigils removed, Holy Week having a different look, that sort of thing.
Thank you--this is very helpful. I somehow hadn't occurred to me that I could pray the little hours if I wasn't praying Prime or Compline.... This makes it all more workable.
Especially for Benedictine oblates, who make a promise (not a vow) to recite *some portion* of the divine office, as their schedule allows for it. I know oblates who do nearly the entire thing, and I know others (*ahem*) who do one or two of the "hours" a day.
Could you comment on the prayers before and after the Office ( Prime) for the laity and to what extent the martyrologium and the pretiosa are included in the „7-8 minutes“ of Prime? Greetings from Austria!
Yes, it's true that if you do the prayers beforehand, and the Martyrology and reading from the Rule and commemoration of the dead afterwards, you are looking at 10-15 minutes, but not more than that.
There's a nice pocket-sized Martyrology you can get from Amazon.de. Here's the listing in the USA:
Thank you very much! I bought a pre-55 edition thanks to your words on the psalms in the Prime on Thursday. When I started to pray with the book I recogniced it last had been used on the same liturgical day (3. Sonntag nach Ostern)!
"Braiding Sweetgrass"? Seems kinda Pope Francis, Pachamama, Gaia-worship, syncretism, 'Indigenous Ways of Knowing' as the 'Higher Wisdom' sort of genre/ideology. (And reading further, also: the standard half-truths and outright lies told by the leftist post-colonialist academia establishment.) I guess there's a place for that stuff, it's all good, just not in the liturgy??
I'm a bit puzzled by your comment. Most people reading this Substack are adherents of the traditional Roman Rite. But my point is that we, the authors here, are not interested exclusively in the liturgy; we have broad horizons.
Thank you both for these fine recommendations! Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel im Spiegel” is the most moving piece I have ever heard. It always imparts to me a sense of longing and transcendence. It is otherworldly.
Agreed. Love that piece.
I'm delighted to see "Hearth and Field" in your suggestions. It has replaced the now-defunct
Taproot as a favorite whole living periodical. My second issue arrived this week and when he saw it
my spouse said 'That's not a magazine, that's a beautiful book!" I plan to give myself the hymnal for a birthday present. Thank you for that recommendation- it is hard to pick just a few things!
How would you rate this version of the Diurnal compared with the 1962 version?
https://andrewespress.com/the-monastic-diurnal/
It's only in English. It's an High Church Anglican publisher...so while it looks like a nice printing, I'd go with the other one.
Actually they are "Western Orthodox." They are or were affiliated with one of the Orthodox "jurisdictions."
I had the chance to look at this edition for the first time recently. It's exactly the same as the Benedictine office except in King James-type English. For someone who wants to do the office only in English, it would be a great option. Still, I think it's best to work toward praying it in Latin, though that can take some time.
Thank you both for your responses.
First hurdle: praying it at all (I already have 30-60 minutes of devotions I like to do each day, so working in another hour or so can be a challenge).
Second hurdle Latin. With no TLM easily available, this will take a bit longer. Check back in with me in two or three decades and I'll let you know how it's going. :-)
And just how different is the 1962 version from the earlier one?
The amount to work in depends entirely on how much of the breviary you'd like to pray. It can range from 5 minutes for a "little hour" (Terce, Sext, None) or 7-8 minutes for Prime or Compline, up to about 20 minutes for Lauds and 15-20 for Vespers (this, again, is if one is reciting it quietly to oneself).
The '62 edition is mostly the same in terms of the psalms and prayers. If you know about any of the changes to the missal from 1955 onward, then you will know how the office is different too: very few octaves, some saints & vigils removed, Holy Week having a different look, that sort of thing.
Thank you--this is very helpful. I somehow hadn't occurred to me that I could pray the little hours if I wasn't praying Prime or Compline.... This makes it all more workable.
Especially for Benedictine oblates, who make a promise (not a vow) to recite *some portion* of the divine office, as their schedule allows for it. I know oblates who do nearly the entire thing, and I know others (*ahem*) who do one or two of the "hours" a day.
Maybe the little hours should be called the "minutes".....
Dear Dr. K,
Could you comment on the prayers before and after the Office ( Prime) for the laity and to what extent the martyrologium and the pretiosa are included in the „7-8 minutes“ of Prime? Greetings from Austria!
Yes, it's true that if you do the prayers beforehand, and the Martyrology and reading from the Rule and commemoration of the dead afterwards, you are looking at 10-15 minutes, but not more than that.
There's a nice pocket-sized Martyrology you can get from Amazon.de. Here's the listing in the USA:
https://www.amazon.com/Roman-Martyrology-Pocket-Peter-Kwasniewski/dp/1687239819/
Thank you very much! I bought a pre-55 edition thanks to your words on the psalms in the Prime on Thursday. When I started to pray with the book I recogniced it last had been used on the same liturgical day (3. Sonntag nach Ostern)!
Seems like the Lord wanted you to pick up where someone else had left off... to keep the cycle of praise ever continuing until the end of time.
"Braiding Sweetgrass"? Seems kinda Pope Francis, Pachamama, Gaia-worship, syncretism, 'Indigenous Ways of Knowing' as the 'Higher Wisdom' sort of genre/ideology. (And reading further, also: the standard half-truths and outright lies told by the leftist post-colonialist academia establishment.) I guess there's a place for that stuff, it's all good, just not in the liturgy??
Well, no one here ever suggested putting it into the liturgy...
I know, thus my question: Is the liturgy the only thing that matters to people here?? (I presume not...!!?)
I'm a bit puzzled by your comment. Most people reading this Substack are adherents of the traditional Roman Rite. But my point is that we, the authors here, are not interested exclusively in the liturgy; we have broad horizons.
Thank you, all, for these great recommendations!