The Divine Office - On A Budget

Shorter Christian Prayer & Christian Prayer

For those of you interested in praying the Divine Office (i.e. Liturgy of the Hours), I have several recommendations to get you started. Perhaps you are familiar with the four volume set you see your priest use. The four thick volumes can be a bit intimidating but there are other alternatives for those who just want to get started. I will leave the four volume set for another day. I have listed seven options below ranging from written books, websites and podcasts. I have also thrown in an extra bonus resource that is very helpful for the Christian Prayer Book.

1) Shorter Christian Prayer, The Four-Week Psalter of the Liturgy of the Hours Containing Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer with Selections for the Entire Year. Catholic Book Publishing Co., NY, 1988. (pictured above)

2) Christian Prayer (The Liturgy of the Hours), Morning Prayer, Daytime Prayer (selections), Evening Prayer, Night Prayer, Office of Readings (selections). Catholic Book Publishing Corp., NY. 1976. (pictured above)

3) Universalis website
 
4) Divine Office website

5) ebreviary website

6) Apps for portable devices

7) Praystation Portable Podcast

8) One More Thing! A must have . . .

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#1 Things I like about the Shorter Christian Prayer Book

   *      It is compact. Perfect for travel.

   *      There is a whole section of hymn lyrics (no written melody though) (pp. 583-663).

   *      Includes Morning (Lauds), Evening (Vespers) and Night Prayer (Compline).

   *      Gospel Canticles conveniently located on front and back covers.

   *      Full section of Invitatory Psalms (pp. 22-23).

   *      Detailed outline of how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours (pp. 18-34).

   *      Very good list of hymns categorized according to liturgical season or feast (pp. 578-582).

Things I don't like about the Shorter Christian Prayer Book.

   *      Very limited when it comes to special feast days.

   *      There are parts that need to be memorized that are only mentioned once and then any reminders are left out.

This is a very manageable book otherwise. When I say these are things I don't like, it just means these items are inconvenient for me. They may be fine for you.

#2 Things I like about the Christian Prayer Book

   *      Liturgical calendar in front (pp. 22-33).

   *      Printed melody of hymns (pp. 1507-1707) and music settings to sing the Divine Office (1709-1784).

   *      Daytime Prayer included.

   *      Feast days for specific saints with a short history given (1060-1382).

   *      Appendix which includes a listing of great poetry (Canticle of the Sun by St. Francis for example) (pp. 2057-2063).

   *      Good index of psalms, canticles, Bible readings and non-biblical readings (2072-2075).

   *      Two separate leaflets with the Gospel Canticles, Invitatory psalms and Te Deum printed out.

   *      Lots of marker ribbons!

Things I don't like of about the Christian Prayer Book.

   *      Though it is nice to have the option for the Office of Readings, you have to look up the Bible and non-biblical readings separately in the back. (I go to Universalis to do the Office of Readings).

   *      Sometimes you have to jump back and forth for antiphons, psalms and prayers on particular Saint feast days.
 
Like I say, these are just inconvenient to me. Otherwise this is a great resource.

#3 Universalis website - http://www.universalis.com/ - This website has a really good liturgical calendar and prints the whole prayer from beginning to end. You can even choose whether you want the regular readings for the day or for the specific saint for that day. I prefer this option for the Office of Readings. Everything is printed out for you. No flipping back and forth.

#4 Divine Office website - http://divineoffice.org/ - I have a limited knowledge of this site. They print out the whole prayer and they have an audio option as well.

#5 ebreviary website - http://www.ebreviary.com/ - This site has prayers you can download in booklet format. There is a cost to download a subscription. These are very well formatted. It is good to have printed booklets for group recitation of the Divine Office in your parish.

#6 Apps for iPod, iPad, and other devices. - Divine Office, Universalis, and separate apps for morning, evening and night prayer. Some are free. Some have a cost but are well worth it (Especially Universalis). Do a search in the Apple Store. Versions for other portable devices are available via app store for your specific device.

#7 SQPN - Praystation Portable -- Audio liturgy of the hours. Very simple and complete. Download only the ones you want or subscribe via iTunes. I like this one!

#8 Bet ya want to know that one more thing is? . . . This is a must have if you have the Christian Prayer Book. It is the Saint Joseph Guide for Christian Prayer (The Liturgy of the Hours) For use with Edition No. 406. Published by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. It is updated each year. This has a day by day listing of prayers and page numbers corresponding to the one volume edition. Make sure you get the correct guide. There is more than one.

This is one of my longer blog posts, but I hope it has been helpful. Please comment and give suggestions on resources you have have found.

Happy Praying!

Ave Maria!

Praise be Jesus Christ!