The Divine Office - An Invitation to Worship

The Invitatory is a psalm that is said at the beginning of the day. Depending on which prayer is said first, whether Office of Readings or Morning Prayer, the Invitatory will always precede the first prayer. Psalm 95 is customarily the one said for the Invitatory, but there are three other options that can be substituted.

                           Invitatory Psalms

Psalm 95

Psalm 100

Psalm 67

Psalm 24

Just as a reminder, there are differences between the Catholic Bible and Protestant Bible. There are seven more books in the Catholic Bible and the numbering of the Psalms is different from the Protestant Bible. For example Psalm 95 in the Catholic Bible is Psalm 94 in the Protestant Bible. 

How We Begin Our Prayers
The Invitatory begins with an introduction.

                   

   Lord, open my lips.

       -- And my mouth will proclaim your praise. (CP, 686).        

An antiphon is prayed prior to the psalm. An antiphon is s short prayer that is an introduction to each Psalm or Canticle (Boissinot, 120). The antiphon for the Invitatory is found before the Morning Prayer for the day. The psalm is said or sung. The antiphon is said after each stanza. This repeats the theme of the mystery reflected upon for the days prayer (Boissinot, 50). Christian Prayer states that for individual recitation, the antiphon may be said only at the beginning and not repeated (CP, 686). Either way is fine. The psalm is concluded with -

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, in now, and will be for ever. Amen. (CP, 689)

As you may have noticed, this is similar to the "Glory be" that we say in the Rosary. Boissinot states that Tradition recommends reciting this after each psalm.

It brings to the prayers from the Old Testament "a quality of praise linked to a christological and trinitarian interpretation." (42)

What is the Invitatory?
The Invitatory is like it sounds. It invites us all to prayer and worship. Be sure to check the Universalis website to get an idea of how the Invitatory flows from beginning to end. The Christian Prayer book, as reviewed in my previous blog post, has a leaflet that contains all the Invitatory Psalms printed out. This saves flipping back and forth in the book.

I learn something new every day in the Divine Office. The Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours is a means in which we internalize Sacred Scripture. This prayer also sanctifies time. Each part of the day, especially morning and evening have a prayer attached to them. What a great way to start and end each day!

When combined with the Office of Readings, and the daily and weekly Mass readings, we read a majority of the Bible in one year. There are a lot of Bible reading plans available but none compares to what Sacred Tradition has given to us in the Divine Office.

Hope this has been helpful. Next time I will discuss Morning Prayer. 

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Happy Praying!

Ave Maria!

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Resources

Boissinot, Georges-Albert, Companion Prayer Book to the Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing, NJ., 2010.

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.

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 . . .

----------------------------

#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!

A Note on Prayer: The Liturgy of the Hours

Christian Prayer: Liturgy of the Hours

Have you every found it difficult to pray? I have had times in my life where prayer has been difficult. When unexpected events happen, any routine goes out the window. I have recently started back into a special devotion the Church has given us. Today I would like to make a  recommendation of the Liturgy of the Hours or what is also  called the Divine Office. What is the advantage of yet another "pre-planned prayer"? 

• First of all, it is structured for community recitation. It can be recited in a prayer-response format that is orderly and reverent.
• Second, it can recited individually at any time of day.
• Third, we are praying Sacred Scripture. By doing this we do not fall into error. We internalize the readings throughout the day and the week.
• Finally, we are saying the same thing the Pope, all the cardinals and bishops, priests and religious are praying throughout the day. This unites us in prayer and fulfills the Apostle Paul's instruction to "pray without ceasing."

The Liturgy of the Hours is a special devotion that has been carried on from the early days of the Church. Jesus gives us a wonderful example of constant prayer throughout the gospels. The apostles had the custom of going up to the Temple to pray at certain times of the day. 

The Liturgy of the Hours is centered on the Psalms, and include canticles from the Old and New Testaments and writings of the early church fathers.

In future posts I will be discussing the different parts of the Liturgy of the Hours. 

Happy Praying!

Ave Maria!

Praise be Jesus Christ!

A Tribute to a Special Lady

Nativity Window at Sacred Heart Parish.

I hope all Catholics everywhere had a wonderful Feast of the Assumption of Mary on August 15^th. In this Feast we celebrated the taking up of Mary, body and soul into heaven. This is what we hope for ourselves.

The Apostle John is given a vision in the book of Revelation of the “ark of the covenant”. The Ark had not been seen since the time of Jeremiah and the Captivity of the Jews to Babylon. Then John starts talking about a woman “clothed with the sun, crowned with twelve stars and the moon under her feet.” Wait a minute! I thought John was going to talk about the Ark of the Covenant? Let us look at this from another angle.

In ancient Israel no one was allowed to touch the Ark of the Covenant. So what does this have to do with the mother of our Lord? Can darkness produce light? Can a sinful human being produce the sinless Redeemer? Since Mary is the mother of Jesus, imagine what it was like for Joseph.

Seeing Mary in a New Light

In 1943 there was a movie called “The Song of Bernadette”. It told the story of a young girl who saw the Blessed Virgin in Southern France. When everyone thinks that Bernadette is saying all these things to get attention, one character is overwhelmed with what he sees in her. He proclaims, “One not even touch a being like that.”

The same awe must have filled the minds of the Apostles at Pentecost. Mary was there with them. She knew Jesus better than anyone in the room. The Apostles were in the same place that Joseph was 33 years previously. This woman was very special. How would you have approached the mother of Jesus?

Ave Maria!

Praise be Jesus Christ!

A Prayer Challenge

Do you pray every day? With a busy schedule it is difficult to spend time with God. As Catholics we have a rich collection of prayers. The Rosary is one of them. The Rosary focuses our attention on the gospel. Now if I challenged you to pray the Rosary every day for an entire month, could you do it? How about a year?

I would like to invite all Catholics and our brothers and sisters in Christ to a one-year prayer challenge. This challenge consists of praying every day for an entire year beginning today (August 5^th, 2012). Pray at home, at church and preferably somewhere with minimal distractions. Pray reverently, thoughtfully and consistently.

Remember, the point of all this is spending time with God. Treasure this special time and thank God for all He has done of you. If you find prayer difficult or don’t have time, start small. Be consistent. Be patient. It will be time well spent.

Happy praying everybody! Keep in touch!

Day 1

Ave Maria!

Praise be Jesus Christ!