Divinum Officium

[serviam]

I want to recite the Divine Office daily, but don't know where to start. Can anyone help? Thanks.

[CollegeCatholic]

http://lzkiss.net/cgi-bin/horas/brevi.pl

That's, far as I know, the 1962 (ish) Breviary, in Latin and English. 

I recommend starting praying Completorium (Compline), as it's easiest and pretty much the same daily.

I'll yield to others.

Hopefully Credo or glgas chimes in.

[Credo]

The Office can seem quite daunting at first. Having personally spoken to Christian book sellers, many people return their editions of the Office shortly after purchase because of the seeming impossiblity of learning the prayer. Indeed, the breviary can be intimidating at first blush. Before getting into the rubrics, however, it is extremely important to understand what the Office is. Below are some articles of interest. It is invaluable to digest these readings before deleving futher into the Prayer of the Church.

One point to consider in the following articles is a phrase one encounters often. It goes like this, "After the Holy Mass, the Divine Office is the most important prayer one can pray." While this is correct, such soundbites can be misleading. The link between the Mass and Office is inextricable. For instance, while they share some themes, the Rosary and the Mass, or the Stations of the Cross and the Chaplet of S. Anthony, or Bible reading and novenas, are all seperate prayers. They exsist in their own worlds, so to speak. This is not the case with the Mass and Office. They are attached at the hip. Perhaps it would be helpful to say that if the Mass is the heart of the Chruch, then the Office is the blood. The Office takes what one learns at Mass, and brings that Grace to the rest of the week (or better yet, your day, if daily Mass floats your boat).

With that cleared up, and without futher ado, here are some links of interest:



Learning the Breviary (terminology, some of which is outdated) - http://www.traditio.com/office/glossary.htm

Divine Office - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11219a.htm

Liturgy of the Hours / Divine Office / Breviary - http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/breviary.htm

General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours (some of the following document is more useful as an introduction than others) - http://www.catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/DocumentContents/Index/2/SubIndex/39/DocumentIndex/2



Once you get these digested, let me know and we'll go from here.

[markadm]

This recent article is very useful:-

More on the Divine Office: Recitation by the Laity
http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/06/more-on-divine-office-private.html

Tip number one from me:
just pray it!  You may hit on the wrong book like I did at first, but then you may find you gravitate to older, more traditional forms.

[glgas]

http://lzkiss.net/cgi-bin/horas/brevi.pl

That's, far as I know, the 1962 (ish) Breviary, in Latin and English. 

I recommend starting praying Completorium (Compline), as it's easiest and pretty much the same daily.

I'll yield to others.

Hopefully Credo or glgas chimes in.

As a matter of fact the above (older) version is the pre 1955 (Divino Afflatu) version.

http://divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl (or select from http://divinumofficium.com the cellphone variation), those allow to select the 1960 version, that is the official Extraordinary form.

From any source start to recite the Office with the Compline, follow with the Prime, then the rest.

If you like book (and the Latin is too hard for you)  you can buy the Monastic Diurnal (no Matins and for benedictine use, bilingual)

http://www.farnboroughabbey.org/press/dirunal.php

or the Anglican breviary (English only, pre 1955 version, slight differences from the Roman Breviary)

http://www.anglicanbreviary.net/

Both around $70 with postage

Unfortunately neither Baronius http://www.baroniuspress.com/index.php?wid=12 nor the Lulu diurnal http://stores.lulu.com/breviary seems to get the Imprimatur - Nihil obstat.

laszlo

[gmcbroom]

Actually glgas, I think it has it on the back page that faces the contents of the book.  Seeing as I have no idea what Canons 822-832,CIC 1983 means or are I don't know if that is supposed to explain why it does or why it doesn't have an IMPRIMATUR for the Baronius Edition of the 1962 Roman Missal.  I hope it has it but your right that there is no Imprimatur symbol on the edition just the text   from a Most Reverend Fabian W. Bruskewitz, DD, STD, Bishop of Lincoln. 

Any ideas on what those Canons are?

[JMM]

If you have any questions about the office,  join the group by my signature.

[karyn_anne]

I really like this: the Divine Office for the laity by Angelus Press. Has Prime (very useful and beautiful morning prayer), Sext (great midday prayer) and Compline everyday with the addition of Lauds and Vespers on sundays and 1st class feasts.

I find it to be very useful for beginners (it is in english and latin) and i see myself using it for a long time. 5 stars!

http://www.angeluspress.org/oscatalog/item/6597/divine-office

[Credo]

karyn_anne, you're correct about the usefulness of the Angelus Press volume. I would like to make mention, however, that the work by Angelus Press is not an "Office for the laity." The text used are selections taken from the actual Breviarium Romanum, and not the kind of private devotions modeled on the Office which proliferated in the 1940s and '50s.

[glgas]

Actually glgas, I think it has it on the back page that faces the contents of the book.  Seeing as I have no idea what Canons 822-832,CIC 1983 means or are I don't know if that is supposed to explain why it does or why it doesn't have an IMPRIMATUR for the Baronius Edition of the 1962 Roman Missal.  I hope it has it but your right that there is no Imprimatur symbol on the edition just the text   from a Most Reverend Fabian W. Bruskewitz, DD, STD, Bishop of Lincoln. 

Any ideas on what those Canons are?

Can. 826 §1. The prescripts of ⇒ can. 838 are to be observed concerning liturgical books.

§2. To reprint liturgical books, their translations into the vernacular, or their parts, an attestation of the ordinary of the place where they are published must establish their agreement with the approved edition.

[devotedknuckles]

Also it should be mention the introduction to the sspx angelus edition is fantastic. When I started praying the office it was the angelus issue. Its very good for bigginers. Fantastic!!!!! Go for it karyn anne
Sip

[karyn_anne]

karyn_anne, you're correct about the usefulness of the Angelus Press volume. I would like to make mention, however, that the work by Angelus Press is not an "Office for the laity." The text used are selections taken from the actual Breviarium Romanum, and not the kind of private devotions modeled on the Office which proliferated in the 1940s and '50s.

ah..i meant it as an office (with a small 'O') for the laity, as a version that can be easily used by them, though not as a specific private devotion.

[brotherjuniper]

I want to recite the Divine Office daily, but don't know where to start. Can anyone help? Thanks.

Getting back to the original question, I think that a personal story will suffice for an answer:

Long before I became Catholic, I was very interested in the Divine Office. I remember that my first breviary was Christian Prayer (a version of the Liturgy of the Hours with a miniscule selection of the readings). I used it fairly regularly, but my heart desired something that was much more fuller and deeper.

Once I started going to the TLM, I found a battered copy of A Short Breviary for Religious and Laity on sale at the library of the Trad parish I used to attend. I used that for quite sometime as well. Indeed, I recommend this version of the Roman Breviary to you because it is one of the simplest to use. Practically everything that you need is there including the readings and the Propers for the Major Feasts and Seasons of the ecclesiastical year. The translation is from the Confraternity version of the Holy Bible which was one of the versions of the Holy Scriptures approved by the Vatican before Vatican II came around.

Be aware that there are many different versions of this breviary out there on sale. If you are lucky, there are some which were published especially for Benedictines or Franciscans. With these you not only get the feasts that are celebrated throughout the Church, but also the collects and feast days for special Franciscan/Benedictine saints (Sts. Benedict, Scholastica, Francis, Clare, and numerous others.).

After a while, though, I felt the desire for something fuller once again. By luck, the library has many worn out Monastic Breviaries. I bought a set and began to use it. It's been my breviary of choice since although I switch between it and others from time to time.

FYI, the learning curve with any breviary is going to be steep in the beginning. I remember that I spent hours and hours deciphering the rubrics for my Monastic Breviary. It was frustrating and I actually was tempted to take it back to the library. But then I realized that St. Benedict had written all of this down in his Rule and that there were copies available in English! After that, it was all smooth sailing because I finally knew what I was doing.

Also, I recommend that you find an ordo that lists what the feast days are for the current year. Some places publish them in Latin and others do in English. This site (www.breviary.net) has an excellent monthly ordo in English and is the one that I use. You could also use the liturgical calendar from the FSSP (1962 rubrics). Whatever you decide, keep one close at hand and use it.

As for where to begin, do what the other posters here have said and begin with Compline. It's the shortest hour, but also one of the most beautiful.

I hope this helps.

[karyn_anne]

I thought Sext or one of the "little hours" are shorter than Compline? Anyway, i love Prime and i really think it is a great morning prayer. Compline is wonderful just before bed but i do not have the time to say it with homework piling up during the school term, surprising as it sounds.

[devotedknuckles]

The divine office for the liaty as discussed is perfect for a busy scedual and its a slime volume. Very well bound.
For. A busy student I think its a perfect wee office
Sip