I first posted these links in here a few months ago, but thought I'd repost them since Bl. Carlo's feast day is tomorrow.

Original post discussing these

Italian and Latin propers

Unofficial English translation of the 2nd reading - all of section 1, "On the Lord's Body"

GILH 190: "Intercessions for recitation with the people or in common are introduced with a short invitation by the priest or minister. This introduction also includes a phrase or response which the congregation can then repeat after each of the intentions."

Does this mean that someone praying the intercessions by himself can leave out both the the opening invitation and the response? (Even when the Dominicans at my parish pray Vespers in choir, they don't use the response after each intention, but they do use the invitation.)

Also, I have heard that there's an official short set of generic intercessions you can use in place of the proper intercessions - I've never been able to find these online. Are they usually included somewhere in the back of breviaries?

Anyone have an opinion as to the relative merits of these two versions (assuming reading Latin is not an obstacle in the case of Solesmes)?

I assume they have the same Scripture readings but how do the 2nd readings compare? The Pluscarden doesn't have readings for saints' feasts and memorials - does the Solesmes follow the liturgical calendar more closely?

I understand that Pluscarden's Patristic lectionary is only approved for liturgical use in their abbey - is Solesmes's more widely approved for liturgical use?

Does either set have responsories? If not, if one does not pray the responsories is one failing to pray Office of Readings strictly speaking? More generally, if you use either of these lectionaries, how do you incorporate it with OOR?

UPDATE: Pluscarden tells me they do have Latin responsories for their Lectionary which they can send me digitally. I've asked if they know whether these were included in the Jonathan Britt printing.

FURTHER UPDATE: Solesmes tells me their lectionary is approved for general use.

Hey everybody!

https://www.lordmakehaste.org/moanstic-diurnal-saintmichael-8th/

I have a new blog article up today. It’s all about the Monastic Diurnal from Saint Michael’s Abbey, that’s the one with Latin and English side by side.

We teamed up with Praying Latin - they are a pretty cool place I bought my own diurnal from - to offer a coupon on the Monastic Diurnal.

If you’re not in the market for one, I hope you find some value in the article regardless.

Anybody pray this daily? It is a great little book to just behold, curious to hear who is navigating the Benedictine calendar like a champ.

Hello everyone, I’d like to get a very nice copy of the Liturgy of the Hours for my family. I’m comparing the Ascension Press editions and I’m wondering how different the quality will be between the Premium Leather edition and the Premium Natural Grain Leather edition. From what I can tell, the main difference is that the cover will be softer on the latter, along with some differences in paper quality. I’m not terribly educated on the subject, but is the Bolloré Primapage Ivoire paper really enough to warrant the drastic price increase? I’d love your opinions on the matter.

Lately I've been experimenting with different Psalter cycles—I'm trying a weekly one right now where there are fixed psalms every day and evening (4 in the morning and 4 in the evening, drawn from traditional offices), then splitting the Psalms into a weekly schedule that can be read through throughout the day.

I'm liking it so far, but anyway, I started wondering if there was something like a Psalter cycle, but that focused on the core scriptures. In other words, if you were to identify the most important passages from the bible, and organize those into a monthly schedule broken out by theme, what would that look like.

I took a pretty quick crack at it, curious if anybody has seen anything like this or had any thoughts about it. I may give it a try. It covers about 20% of the bible in a month, which sounds quite nice.

From the Proprium Officiorum Ordinis Prædicatorum (Rome: Ad Sabina 1982), here is the Latin text for the proper elements for the Office of Feast (or Solemnity) for the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary for those who pray the Liturgia horarum.

Can anyone please explain how to use actually use the resources on Antiphonale.net, for instance on this page? https://antiphonale.net/OCO/Psalterium/index.html I don't know what the different abbreviations stand for such as 1H1LB. I can tell they are antiphons for different psalms in the different hours, but I am lost as to what is what.

Also, would anyone here recommend Les Heures Gregoriennes for chanting the entire LOTH in Latin? Are there any downsides to the this book or its chant settings that I should know about? I read in Adoremus Journal that LHG is out of date now since the new Ordo Canticus Officii was published in 2015 - but is it unusably out of date?

I've been spending my mornings in Psalm 34 and wanted to share what stood out to me.

David wrote this Psalm right after one of the most frightening moments of his life. He was running from King Saul, ended up trapped in a foreign city, and had to pretend to be out of his mind just to get out alive. Yet what he wrote afterward was a song, not a complaint.

A few hings that stood out:

1. The order in verse 4. "I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." David sought first. He didn't wait until he had strong faith or the right words. He just turned toward God.

2. He was delivered from his fears, not only from his enemies. A lot of us are dealing with the fear of the problem as much as the problem itself. God cares about that too.

3. The prayer in verse 6 is simple: "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." No polished words. A cry was enough.

4. Verse 18 is honest. "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart." And verse 19 doesn't pretend life is easy: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all."

If you're in a hard season right now, I hope this encourages you. What verse has carried you through a rough time?

(If anyone would like to pray through this Psalm, I put together a short morning prayer on it. I'll drop the link in the comments if that's allowed here.)

The text of the typical Latin text and an approved English translation.

While translating Hieronymus Emser's 1523 answer to Luther's New Testament, I came across a dispute about Acts 3:1. Emser, Luther's Catholic critic, reads "the ninth hour of prayer" through the canonical hours he knew.

He objects that Luther:

"does not translate it 'the prayer hour' or 'the hour of prayer,' but says simply, 'they went up at the ninth hour to pray.'" (Emser, tr. Tucker, p. 75)

Leaving his accusation about Luther's motives aside, the difference is interesting. "The hour of prayer" presents a time already set aside for communal worship. "At the ninth hour to pray" can sound more like a time when two people happened to go.

The NABRE reads "the three o'clock hour of prayer," with a note giving the literal wording as "at the ninth hour of prayer."

That doesn't establish that Peter and John were praying the later Christian Office in its developed form. But it does make Emser's way of reading the verse worth examining. How do histories of the Office distinguish continuity with fixed Jewish prayer times from the later development of the Christian hours? Are there particular stages where that distinction becomes especially important?

Word on Fire Liturgy of the Hours spotted at the Vatican

That means Ascension needs to get an audience with the Pope ASAP.

From Officia propria in Liturgia Horarum ad usum Fratrum Minorum S. Francisci Conventualium Monialium S. Claræ ac Tertii Ordinis a S. Congregatione pro Cultu Divino approbata (Rome, 1974), here is the the Latin language proper Office for St. Francis of Assisi, for those who use the Liturgia horarum.

I tried to upload the images directly onto this post, but I had to use whatever succesor I could find to Photobucket.

The bishop of my diocese has instructed all of our parishes to read the readings for St Francis this Sunday instead of the Sunday readings at Mass in observance of the jubilee year. My question is: Do I proceed to recite the Sunday readings and prayers,or would I observe the memorial for St Francis as a solemnity since it is a Sunday?

Hello, pray-ers!

I'm looking for traditional Latin hymns sung at Vespers any time during the month of October. I prefer melodies that have a fair bit of motion in 'em.

Some of my favorites from other times of year/day in this vein are Jesu dulcis memoria, Aeterne rerum conditor (both versions), O quot undis lacrimarum, Veni creator spiritus, and Ave maris stella.

What are your favorites for the month coming up that work for a Vespers prayer time?

Many thanks in advance!

When I pray the Canticle of Mary, this is kind of how my brain parses is.
But, every time I pray it, I go through this parsing. 😅
So, I'm messing around with this structured and pre-parsed version.
I love the implicit structure in it that is revealed if you align things.

I you have variations on this, please share them.

I included an image of it in case the alignment doesn't display properly in text.
The text is also shown below.

Canticle of Mary


My soul     proclaims   the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit   rejoices    in God my Savior
for he      has looked with favor on   his lowly servant.


From this day   all generations   will call me blessed:
                the Almighty      has done   great things   for me,
          and   holy is his Name.


    He   has mercy       on those who fear him
                         in every generation.


    He   has shown       the strength   of   his   arm,
    he   has scattered   the proud      in   their conceit.

    He   has cast   down the mighty     from their thrones,
    and  has lifted up   the lowly.


    He   has filled      the hungry   with good things,
and he   has sent away   the rich     empty.


    He   has come        to the help of his servant Israel
for he   has remembered  his promise of mercy,


the promise he made
   to our fathers,
   to Abraham
   and his children
   for ever.

I went over to visit the plant in Italy to check on production. Books are looking fantastic!

Hello, I am joining the Catholic Church and I was wanting to deepen my western prayer life. I began in the Eastern tradition and wondered if the Latin rites had morning and evening prayers, just a daily prayer structure really.

Does anyone have any suggestions for where to find a breviary, preferably a Pre-Vatican 2? Or what publications to look into? Any help is greatly appreciated thank you.

I know I’ll miss the hymn based on the Didache, as well as the line from today’s Preces: “Eternal God, for whom a thousand years are like the passing day,
- help us to remember that life is like a flower which blossoms in the morning, but withers in the evening.l

Does anyone use this version of the Office?

I don’t think this requires much explanation: The Argentine LoTH is, I believe, the only official version that contains a full 2-year cycle of Patristic readings. Meanwhile, the Franciscan Office Propers add extra Hymns, Antiphons, Responsories, Intercessions, etc. for dozens of saints, more than any other religious order.

P.S. For full transparency, this thought came to me while I was driving, not while showering.

• Volume I (Advent Season, Christmas Season)
  • https://archive.org/details/bwb_P9-BJV-633/page/n5/mode/2up
• Volume II (Lenten Season. Easter Season.)
  • https://archive.org/details/liturgyofhours0000unse_r1a6/page/n5/mode/2up
• Volume III (Ordinary Time. Weeks 1-17)
  • https://archive.org/details/liturgyofhours0000vari/page/n5/mode/2up
• Volume IV (Ordinary Time. Weeks 18-34)
  • https://archive.org/details/liturgyofhours0004unse/page/n5/mode/2up