A reader writes:
Is it licit to use the pre-vatican ii divine office? I cannot see why the use of the old divine office as a private devotion would be contrary to church, though I am sure that it would not count as the official prayer of the church.
My preference would be to use the new Liturgia Horarum issued by the Vatican, but the cost is prohibitive–each of the 4 volumes is 85 dollars!–and it does not have an English translation. The English Liturgy of the Hours is quite expensive too but the principal reason I’d prefer to use the angelus press edition is that I’d like to pray the hours in Latin.
To sum up, my question is: Is it licit to use the angelus press officium divinum as a private devotion?
I am unaware of any law that would prohibit the saying of the old form of the divine office as a personal form of devotion. The content of the older form of the office was certainly in conformity with the Catholic faith, and the Church permits personal forms of devotion that are in conformity with the Catholic faith as long as they have not been specifically reprobated. I am unaware of anything that would reprobate this as a personal devotion, and so I see no reason why you cannot do so.
That being said, the older form of the divine office is not the same as the current form and, as a result–unless there is a provision out there allowing this–my understanding is that saying it according to the old form would not count as a participation in the Church’s liturgical prayer. If you want to do that, you need to say the prayer in the form that the Church presently prays.
Isn’t a layperson praying the Tridentine Office praying in union with those priests are are allowed, by Indult, to pray said Office?
I’ve wondered about this myself. I suspect a little more digging may be in order. The point made above seems reasonable to me. As well, I believe the Benedictine order was allowed to continue using the Benedictine Office (which closely resembles the pre-Vatican II Divine Office). So, it seems that at a minimum there are versions of the Divine Office which are equally licit even if different. The next question: is the older Tridentine office licit as well?
I myself would welcome clarification on this issue.
On November 1, 1970, Pope Paul VI promulgated by Apostolic Constitution “The Divine Office Revised by Decree of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.”
Pertinent to this blog, the Promulgation states the following.
====
We decree that this new Liturgy of the Hours may be brought into use as soon as it is published. Meanwhile, the episcopal conferences should see to the preparation of editions of this liturgical work in the vernacular and, after approval and confirmation by the Apostolic See, should fix the date when vernacular versions may or must be used, either in whole or in part. Beginning on the day when these vernacular versions are to be used for vernacular celebrations, only the revised form of the Liturgy of the Hours is to be followed by those who continue to use Latin.
It is lawful, however, for those who because of advanced age or for special reasons experience serious difficulties in observing the new rite, to continue to use the former Roman Breviary, in whole or in part, with the consent of their Ordinary, and exclusively in individual recitations.
====
Outside of these regulations, one is exercising a private devotion, rather than formally participating in the Liturgy.
As a private devotion, it is not a bad thing. For laity, there is no regulated obligation to recite any form of the Office at all. If laity recite the Divine Office in conformity with liturgical law, then, obviously, they do so in conformity with the law and with other persons who do likewise. If laity recite the Divine Office as a private devotion, then it is a private devotion, not participation in liturgy, and not regulated by liturgical law. (This is not to say that it would not be related to the liturgy at all.)
For clergy and religious, their obligation in this matter is governed by Church law. Clergy and religious are obligated to recite the Liturgy of the Hours AS LITURGY and in conformity with Church liturgical law. The exception to this and the conditions for the exception are stated in the cited section of the Promulgation.
I may be wrong, but a logical inference from the text of the Ecclesia Dei indult, which permits the use of the litugical books in force in 1962, not limited to the Roman Missal of 1962, along with the existence of several monastic communities still chanting the pre-reform Office, would be that those of us volutarily praying the Hours from a pre-reform Breviary or Diurnal are, in fact, participating in the official prayer of the Church.
So long as we are consistently govenerned by those liturgical norms, we are participating in the life of the Church.
That would be consistent with the deeper tradition that the Mass is really best understood as part and parcel of the Liturgy of the Hours, not entirely distinct from it.
The reader wrote: “My preference would be to use the new Liturgia Horarum issued by the Vatican, but the cost is prohibitive–each of the 4 volumes is 85 dollars!–and it does not have an English translation. The English Liturgy of the Hours is quite expensive too but the principal reason I’d prefer to use the angelus press edition is that I’d like to pray the hours in Latin”
If you are intrested in praying the Office in Latin, you could always order the “Psalterium Monasticum.” GIA describes it as: “The Liturgy of the Hours based on the approved Thesaurus liturgiae horarum monasticae. 562 pages. (Vatican; Solesmes). $44.00.”
It contains the Nova Vulgata text of all 150 Psalms, plus Canticles, with Chant. The principle text is the Psalmody of the Rule of St. Benedict, in the order (1) Prime; (2) Vigils and Lauds; (3) Daytime hours of Terce, Sext, None; (4) Vespers; (5) Compline. Then come alternate Psalmodies for 2 or 4 weeks, the Propers. It includes the Collects (in Latin) of the current Mass.
Although this modern Latin Office is different from the Liturgia Horarum (4 vol., current Roman Office), it has much in common.
PS: 1 week psalter (per Rule of Benedict), with alternative schemes per the (approved) Thesaurus.
LH: 4 week psalter, with some psalms and parts of psalms excised.
PS: much simplified Proper of Saints.
LH: full Roman Proper of Saints (as of date of printing, never current…)
PS: no readings for Office of Readings, but 12 Psalms
LH: full readings in Latin–a great little Latin library! (three Psalm pieces).
etc.
You can order it from GIA at:
http://www.giamusic.com/scstore/P-chantbooks.html
For more information on the history of the Office, I suggest
http://www.kellerbook.com/overview.htm
I have the “Psalterium Monasticum.” It is a resource for assembling a monastic liturgy of the hours. It does not contain everything necessary for actually “doing” the liturgy of the hours.
Dear Fr. S.,
What are you still lacking from “Psalterium Monasticum?”
– readings? (you may select them from the Lectionary)
– music for hymns? (see Liber Hymnarium)
– proper antiphons for Gospel Canticles on Sunday? (see Liturgy of the Hours)
There are Intercessions and Collects at the back of Psalterium Monasticum.
Anything else needed?
Carissimo Benedetto!
I intended to mean that you cannot make use of the “Psalterium Monasticum” all by itself. You still have to buy other books in order to be able to use the “P.M.” for the complete Divine Office.
I also have the “Thesaurus liturgiae horarum monasticae” (Treasury of the Monastic Liturgy of the Hours). It is simply a “catalogue listing” of all the options and structures Benedictine monasteries may legitimately use in assembling a Liturgy of the Hours for themselves.
Fr. S. Pedrano, O.S.B.
Fr. S,
Thank you for your detailed responses. As for me, you have answered my question. Part of what I love about the Liturgy of the Hours is that it unites me daily to the liturgy of the Universal Church. Thus I am not interested in the option to pray a version which does not allow such participation.
I am interested in praying the LOTH in Latin, and introducing chant into my devotions. At this point I am still not clear on what is permitted and what is not. What seems to be lacking in the marketplace is a single volume latin translation of something like what the Catholic book Publishing Company produces.
I also wonder if it is acceptable to substitute chant (maybe antiphons from the Graduale Romanum, which I have) for the hymns.
If you have any insight or suggestions, they would be warmly received. Thanks again,
T.
I’ve sometimes wondered whether someone praying the Divine Office (any form) in private is really participating in the Church’s official prayer. It really isn’t meant to be prayed in private. It certainly would be nice if more churches and communities prayed the Office in public, as was the case throughout Europe prior to the Reformation and the rise of the Jesuits. Sunday Vespers would be a good start. 😉
FLEXIBILITY IN THE DIVINE OFFICE
The hymns given in the LH (Liturgy of the Hours) in English are not mandated strictly as “propers”; in other words, you can substitute others within reason, much as the standard practice in parishes is to use songs/hymns in place of the liturgical antiphons the Missal indicates for the entrance and the communion. Note, however, that some hymns in the LH have been historically “proper” to the particular feasts on which they occur; most users wouldn’t know offhand which ones are and which are not.
If one is able to obtain the proper hymns from tradition (such as from the “Antiphonale monasticum”) … grrrreat!
Notice that the properly liturgical hymns (from the Divine Office) always conclude with a doxology to the Trinity.
As for the antiphons that are attached to the psalms and canticles, when St. Benedict regulated for his monks he wrote of the psalm antiphons as if they were “extras” to be tacked on if the community in particular were large. Otherwise, it seems he considered the psalm antiphons optional.
By the way, in the LH there is an odd “inconsistency” on Sundays. The “Magnificat” antiphons for Evening Prayer I of Sundays (on Saturday evenings) are from the Gospel of Year A–no matter what year we are actually in; the “Benedictus” antiphons for Morning Prayer of Sundays are from the Gospel of Year B–no matter what year we are actually in; the “Magnificat” antiphons for Evening Prayer II of Sundays are from the Gospel of Year C–no matter what year we are actually in. In my own monastery, we have assembled our own legitimate LH, and on Sundays we only use the Sunday Gospel antiphons pertinent to the Sunday Gospel of the actual year.
GREAT SOURCE:
paxbook.com is the exclusive and authorized Internet distributor for publications of the Vatican Publishing House and many other Catholic institutes. I haven’t searched for the “Liturgia horarum” there … yet. Check it out.
LITURGY “IN PRIVATE”
The ideal is to celebrate the Divine Office together physically with the bishop, the priests, deacons, laity and religious. The reality is that most bishops and most priests celebrate it physically alone. (The paradox is that Anglican parishes retain Evening Prayer on Sunday as a regular feature … part of the Benedictine missionary heritage of England.) By baptism, each of the faithful is inserted sacramentally into membership in Christ. A priest celebrating Mass all by himself is still offering it as a public act in the world … on behalf of the entire Church and the world … for the entire Church and world … in the name of God in Christ … for the glory of God in Christ…. The same with the LH–whether offered/celebrated by a priest or by a layperson.
The significance of liturgical prayer on Sunday evening? That is the hour of that Sunday when the Risen Christ made his first appearance to his Apostolic Church.
A priest celebrating Mass all by himself is still offering it as a public act in the world.
Still, doesn’t a priest need a “just reason” (or something like that) to offer Mass without the presence of a server at the very least? Is there a similar restriction on the private recitation of the Office?
Also, FWIW, those of us in the Anglica-Use parishes participate in the Office by praying Morningsong and Evensong in public or in private, without the obligation to pray the current LH.
And if you want to pray the office in Latin, may I suggest the Monastic Diurnal published last November by St. Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, U.K.? Modestly priced reprint of the 1963 Monastic Diurnal: it is fairly priced and fits comfortably in the hand. Latin and English parallel throughout.
On the advice of my spiritual director I’ve been praying the Office from it since the middle of Lent. I cannot recommend it enough, if what you want is to pray the Office inexpensively in Latin.
It doesn’t include the chant tones, but I suspect it may be easier to pick those up from recordings of Benedictines praying the Office.
And, as I noted above the pre-reform Office is still prayed throughout the world by many and, as such, seems to remain a valid way of participating in the praying of the Divine Office. Unless you are under a canonical obligation to pray the Office as currently promulgated, you’re participating in the official Liturgy of the Church regardless of which version you’re using.
There is no restriction at all against solitary recitation of the Divine Office.
“I’ve sometimes wondered whether someone praying the Divine Office (any form) in private is really participating in the Church’s official prayer.”
It only has the character of an act of official prayer when it is done by a cleric or a religious. Lay persons participate it only in the same kind of sense that they can be said to spiritually participate in the consecration and sacrifice that takes place at Mass.
$85 per volume for the Latin? That sounds pretty outrageous. I can’t recall exactly what I paid for the English (around 7 years ago now), but it wasn’t anywhere near that – somewhere around $30 per volume, I think.
Anyway – for many of the traditional proper hymns, check here.
vinegar: I don’t think that’s right. The Mass isn’t exactly the same kind of prayer as the LOH, since it requires an ordained priest to be a valid Mass at all. The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours speaks of the “celebration” of the LOH by the faithful in the same way in which it speaks of its “celebration” by clergy and religious. But one can’t speak that way of the “celebration” of the Mass (as the Vatican clarified in the recent instruction on liturgical practices and terminology).
Thank you to Jimmy and all of you for your suggestions. I’m the reader who emailed this question to Jimmy.
The Psalterium Monasticum route sounds promising. Benedetto said that, in addition to the Psalterium, one can use the Lectionary to find the readings, the Liber Hymnarius to find the hymns, and the Liturgy of the Hours to find the “proper antiphons for Gospel Canticles on Sunday”.
What Latin Lectionary does one use? Is the Liber Hymnarius the one also mentioned on the gia website? What is the Liturgy of the Hours that one must use for the last item?
A question to Father S. How do you go about doing the hours with your Benedictine brothers? Do you use the Psalterium Monasticum and switch to the other books mentioned by Benedetto for the other parts of the Hours, or do you have a text that includes all of the parts of the hours for each day?
Dear Reluctant Penitent,
Easy part: the Liber Hymnarius, with much music for the Office, is the one form Solesmes/Vatican available from GIA.
Harder part: the Vatican publishes the 1971 Lectionary in Latin in three paperback volumes (28 euro each). Or, for 28 euro you can get the 1988 revised Ordo Lectionum Missae, which has the readings references and incipits, and just use your Nova Vulgata (assuming you have a Nova Vulgata). There is some flexibiilty to the readings in the monastic office.
Hardest part: There really is no completed Office or Liturgy of the Hours since Vatican II, in English or Latin. Sorry. Some examples:
(1) The General Instruction for the Office of Readings specifies a two-year cycle of readings. Alas, the second year has never been prepared to this date.
(2) Chant notation for the Liturgy of the Hours, including antiphons and psalms (Latin or English) does not exist. Different monastic communities develop their own chants for the revised office.
(3) Aside from the translation of only 1/3 of the Gospel Canticle antiphons for Sunday into English from Latin, there are also a number of typographical errors in the English Liturgy of the Hours, and the substitution of a rather interest set of English songs and hymns (many of a distinctive 1970’s feel) in place of the Latin hymns in the Latin edition. No hymns have music, just words.
I think that the feeling is that the Liturgy of the Hours is not a high priority for either the folks at the Vatican or the national episcopal conferences. Those that are obligated to pray/say it just use what their ordinary or superior instructs them to use, and it may not be the current Roman Office. Those that do it out of devotion rather than obligation are free to cobble together the bits and pieces to meet their needs and interests.
There just is no complete, modern Roman Office in any language.
Even “pre-Vatican-II” there was no one-volume complete Roman Office and no one-volume complete Monastic Office. Matins (Office of Readings), Lauds (Morning), Prime, Terce (Midmorning), Sext (Midday), None (Terce), Vespers (Evening) and Compline (Night)–in order to effect the full round, you needed to have several texts if you wanted to have the printed melodies (i.e., musical notation, not just lyrics) and the readings in front of you.
The General Instruction for the Office of Readings specifies a two-year cycle of readings. Alas, the second year has never been prepared to this date.
I wonder if the second year will include the imprecatory psalms. 😉
The Benedictine monasteries of Italy have published a two-volume LH. One volume is the Office of Readings, with a two-year cycle of readings for weekdays and the three-year Sunday cycle. The other volume has the other hours.
The lyrics of the hymns (without musical notation) are in both Italian and Latin. Otherwise, the volumes are in Italian.
Father S.,
Thank you very much for your answers. At the risk of taking advantage of your generosity, I’m going to ask you another question. You say that “There really is no completed Office or Liturgy of the Hours since Vatican II, in English or Latin.” What, then, is the 4-volume Latin Liturgia Horarum published by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, and sold at paxbooks.com? And the 4-volume Liturgy of the Hours published by Catholic Book Publishing? Are these incomplete because they have only the texts and not instructions for chanting the hours, or are the texts incomplete as well?
“vinegar: I don’t think that’s right. The Mass isn’t exactly the same kind of prayer as the LOH, since it requires an ordained priest to be a valid Mass at all.”
It can be said by anyone at any time and place, but only clerics and religious are empowered by the Church to pray it, not merely in union with the Church, but in an official capacity on behalf of the Church as the official prayer of the Church.
So there’s nothing wrong with praying it as a lay person whether along with a community of clerics or religious or on one’s own, but it’s an ecclesiological mistake to believe that in doing so one is as praying in an official capacity on behalf of the Church.
Masses are not valid or invalid, btw, they are licit or illicit, as our blog host often reminds people.
Dear Fellow Reluctant,
These four-volume sets are complete except for musical notation.
I grant that an expanded selection of readings (such as a two-year cycle of readings) would be desirable. However, that “lack” does not render these sets “incomplete”. They are still completely usable.
To Vinegar
It does seem that the prayer of the hours by laity is more than just a private devotion.
For example, CCC 1174 notes, concerning the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, that ‘This celebration, faithful to the apostolic exhortations to “pray constantly,” is “so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God.” In this “public prayer of the Church,” the faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized. Celebrated in “the form approved” by the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours “is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father.’
Note the inclusion of ‘the laity’ among those who pray the hours as members of the Body of Christ addressing the Father.
At CCC 1175 we read that, in addition to priests and religious who are required to recite the divine office, the all the faithful ought to recite it ‘as much as possible’. We are told that the laity are ‘encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually’.
Thus praying the divine office (the one recognised by the Church) is something more than a private devotion, even when done by a lay person.
Furthermore, there are indulgences associated with praying the divine office. For example, there is a year-of-the-eucharist indulgence that applies to clergy and religious as well as to ‘those who customarily recite the Divine Office out of pure devotion’. (Discussed at http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=66419).
Flambeaux is probably right that allowances are made for Anglican Use parishes and for parishes using the Tridentine rite (as well as for the Benedictines).
I suspect, however, that these are exceptions and that one ought not to assume that one can just use one of these non-standard versions of the LOTH and assume that one is participating in the “Body…addressing the Father.’
All the same, I am relieved to hear that there is nothing illicit about praying the pre-Vatican II Officium Divinum as a private devotion.
my apologies…the last post was mine
It certainly would be nice if more churches and communities prayed the Office in public, as was the case throughout Europe prior to the Reformation and the rise of the Jesuits.
The really sad thing is that one hardly has to go back four hundred years–try forty!
In Rome the capitular churches (of which there were many) had the obligation of the common recitation of the Office until Pope Paul VI dispensed them from it entirely in the late 1960’s. Until then one could turn up at S. Peter’s on any day of the year and find the canons assembled in the choir chapel twice daily, monotoning the Office to each other for God’s greater glory. (And this also held true for every other cathedral and capitular church in the world.) Now, save for Sunday Vespers, nothing is left. No doubt someone will explain to me how this is yet another great improvement?
Sunday Vespers would be a good start.
Absolutely. And found everywhere, even in the poor benighted United States until the 1930’s!
By law it was obligatory for all parishes in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia until two years ago. At the present it can still be found in the Archdiocese, but only if you go to an Episcopal Church!
Since a layman can lead these prayers, and they don’t have to be chanted, one could ask one’s pastor for permission to start Sunday Vespers and build from there.
I know at our Pastoral Provision parish we have Morningsong and Evensong most days. I think only a half dozen parishoners make it on a daily basis, but it is done anyway. It’s also a great way to introduce some Protestants into the liturgical life of the Church. We focus so much on the Mass, but the LH — in whatever form — may be less foreign: lots of Scripture punctuated by calling upon God.
I know priests who have used hours out of the Office for non/interdenominational services.
Vinegar:
Laymen pray the Office, participating in the liturgical life of the Church. It is a public act to do so, even when done in private. What clergy have is not an authority (juridical or otherwise) to pray the Office on behalf of the Church and the World but an obligation. Anyone may pray the Office for the Church and for the World.
And Masses may be valid/invalid, licit/illicit, or some combination therein. If matter and form are correct, the Mass is valid; if incorrect it is invalid. If the celebrant has juridical authority to celebrate the Mass, it is licit; if not, it is illicit. It is thus possible to have an illicit, valid Mass (e.g. SSPX and SSPV, if I understand correctly).
My above analysis of liturgical celebration presumes a validly ordained priest whose faculties have not been suspended.
Vatican radio’s online Annunciation “Chapel” now has the Lauds, Vespers and Compline available for download here:
http://www.vaticanradio.org/inglese/105/en_chapel.html#1
They are updated every day.
If matter and form are correct, the Mass is valid; if incorrect it is invalid.
Some would argue that an invalid Mass is not a Mass at all. I guess it depends on what one thinks makes a Mass. Is the Eucharistic Sacrifice necessary in order to call it a Mass? If so, then why was the Good Friday Liturgy formerly known as the “Mass of the Presanctified”? It’s just not all that clear.
Consider that a monastery of cloistered nuns properly observes the legitimate Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) without a priest. A priest is not necessary for the “validity” or “liceity” of the Divine Office.
Exactly the point I was trying to make, Fr. S. Since a layman may lead others in praying the Office, there is no reason we, as laymen, must wait for a priest or deacon to initiate this in our parishes.
And while sung Vespers on Saturday and Sunday nights, led by the parish priest, would be ideal, let us not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
Start with spoken Vespers on Sunday. Volunteer to organize and lead it. Assure Father that he doesn’t need to allocate any of his time, after a long weekend of celebrating Mass. You just want space in the Church and in the bulletin, if possible, and some guidance on the rubrics with which you are not familiar.
All of us could have the Office prayed in all of our parishes every day, if we wanted it. It ought to be more widely available than Eucharistic Adoration.
And it is a wonderful outreach tool to the elderly and shut-ins, too.
Sorry, that was from me.
Yes, indeed, those Carmelite nuns at Coimbra, Portugal do pray the Hours of the Liturgy seven times IN UNION WITH THE CHURCH. A priest or a deacon is not required to lead the Hours of the Liturgy. They also devote one hour of silent prayer twice each day. I have a photo of late Sister Lucy of Fatima saying the Hours of the Liturgy with her community.
You can say the Liturgy of the Hours privately, besides.
Is the price of four volumes in Latin too high? I bet the price of four volumes in English or in other languages such as Portuguese or French can be too high, too.
Did you know that the motto of late Archbishop Sheen “Da per matrem me venire” actually comes from the Hymn in Latin “Stabat Mater” for the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15?
Pax et Bonum
“What clergy have is not an authority (juridical or otherwise) to pray the Office on behalf of the Church and the World but an obligation. Anyone may pray the Office for the Church and for the World.”
You misunderstood what I meant “on behalf of the Church.” I didn’t mean it in the sense of “for the sake of the Church” but rather “acting on behalf of the Church” as in, to use a mundane example of how the word “behalf” can be used, how an ambassador may act on behalf of his sovereign.
Lay persons can pray the Divine Office or any other prayer at any time and any place for the sake of the Church. But only clerics and religious can pray on behalf of the Church — that is, in an official capacity as official ministers, praying in an official way. Lay persons do not have the ability to do that and it is an ecclesiological mistake to think that they do. It would be similar to equating the informal blessings that lay persons can pray for with the official blessings that only clerics can bestow acting on behalf of the Church — that is as the Church’s official ministers.
I’ve read this in pre-Vatican II material and despite all the changes that Vatican II may have wrought I don’t think this numbers among them. I certainly hope it is not.
“And Masses may be valid/invalid, licit/illicit, or some combination therein.”
Mr Akin says that that would be a “category mistake” and that they are only licit or illicit. It’s the consecration and sacrifice that may or may not take place within a Mass that can be said to be valid or invalid.
Let me repeat once again since I seem not to have been clear. Both clerics and religious (so this includes sisters and lay brothers) can pray the Divine Office in an official way acting on behalf of the Church — that is as the Church’s official ministers. Again by “behalf of the Church” I do not mean “for the sake of the Church.” Lay persons (construed narrowly to exclude all religious), do not need to pray the Divine Office in the presence of any cleric or religious. It is perfectly licit for them to pray it on their own and the prayers have their own value before God. However when they do this, they do not act on behalf of the Church — that is, they do not act as the Church’s official ministers and thus are not praying in an official capacity.
In an emergency, a lay person, even a non-Catholic, can act as a “minister” of the Church by baptizing on behalf of the Church.
The ministers of the Sacrament of Marriage are the husband and wife, not the priest. The priest exhorts, witnesses, blesses, but those who confect (“make”) the Sacrament of Marriage happen are the husband and wife, not the priest.
True: the laity do not have a mandate from the Church to celebrate the LH. Nonetheless, the “General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours” (in no. 32) exhorts and advises lay people:
“to celebrate some parts of
the Liturgy of the Hours, in
accordance with circumstances,
for it is the prayer of the Church
and makes the whole Church,
scattered throughout the world,
one in heart and soul.”
Whether by priests, by nuns (who, like laity, are not ordained ministers of the Church) or by laity, the LH is “the prayer of the Church.”
The Church is present in every baptized Catholic.
Vinegar, when you say, Masses are not valid or invalid, btw, they are licit or illicit, as our blog host often reminds people, I do not believe that is entirely correct. Surely there are some situations where a mass is invalid. For instance, a mass at the local cathedral is valid and licit. An SSPX mass is valid but illicit. A mass offered by me (a layman) at the local cathedral where I would impersonate the priest is both invalid and illicit. Or is my illicit mass somehow valid?
Bill, as Mr Akin says, to speak of a Mass as valid or invalid is a “category mistake.” It is the consecration that may take place at a Mass that is valid or invalid. The Mass itself is either licit or illicit. It’s neither valid nor invalid. To suppose that it is either valid or invalid would be a “category mistake” because Masses are not the kind of thing that can be valid or invalid just as for example mountains are not the kind of thing that can be valid or invalid. I suggest you ask Mr Akin for a better explanation since he is a professional apologist.
“In an emergency, a lay person, even a non-Catholic, can act as a “minister” of the Church by baptizing on behalf of the Church.”
I’m not sure that they act as official ministers of the Church, Father, since, as you probably well know, even non-Christians can baptize in an emergency and surely non-Christians cannot be official ministers of the Church in any circumstance.
In the case of marriage I think it is only in a very loose and broad sense that the couple are ministers of the sacrament and that this language is often a convenient way to contrast it with the other sacraments. In reality, it seems to me that the sacrament is ministered in that case soley by Jesus even though this ministration is effected through the mediation of the couple whereas in the case of other sacraments the cleric acts as a minister in the proper sense, in the person of Christ. You probably know your sacramentology better than I, Father, but this is what my intuition or “sense of the faithful” tells me.
Perhaps you should try this :
http://www.scholasaintmaur.org/SPIP/liturgia.php
The formal teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is that the spouses are the ministers of the sacrament of Matrimony. However, in the Eastern Churches the blessing of the priest is required for validity.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
1623 According to Latin tradition, the spouses as ministers of Christ’s grace mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of Matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church. In the tradition of the Eastern Churches, the priests (bishops or presbyters) are witnesses to the mutual consent given by the spouses, but for the validity of the sacrament their blessing is also necessary.
As an eighty-two year old I use the pre-vatican II breviarium monasticum, 4 volume, though I peruse the LH Roman rite as a devotional. Fidelis
I am a Dominican Tertiary, and as such, am required to recite the LOTH (as much as is possible for my state of life, but not under pain of sin). In the spring of 2005, I was hired as cantor for a Ukrainian Catholic parish, and, wishing to be able to pray the Byzantine hours, I asked the Promoter of Laity for my Dominican Province if I might do so. His response was that praying any approved Divine Office fulfilled the obligation.
My Lutheran pastor friend wants to know why Catholics permit, in necessity, a layman to baptize, but only priests to give absolution and confect the eucharist. He says that if laymen can celebrate one sacrament, why not others.
Please help me explain our position.
Thanks.
I was wondering: considering from my readings on many of the comments here, it seems to be established that any form of Divine Office or the Hours that is “approved” by any episcopal or ecclesiastical authority can be recited by laity to be validly “in union with the public prayer of the Church”.
I’m a Roman Catholic who’s interested to pray the Tridentine of the Office using traditional English; and I have stumbled upon the unique Anglican Breviary translated by Anglo-Catholics.
Has the Anglican Breviary been approved in any way?
I am a Benedictine Oblate and I pray the Divine Office every day and I also sing in a Gregorian schola. For those who want an “approved” reformed office in Latin but that maintains the old traditions, the Psalterium Monasticum is the choice (You can also use the Latin-French version which is what I use as my first language is French). But you will need other books to formally follow the Office. If you want to do it “to the letter” praying Vigils, Prime (optional…it is no longer liturgical but some communities maintain it, and PM allows you to include it), Lauds, Terce, Sexte, None, Vespers and Compline, you will need other books specifically for the other parts of the office. All books cited below are available from http://www.solesmes.com
Hymnal: Liber Hymnarius, contains all the Latin hymns for all liturgical times, and all solemnities, feasts and memorials. In addition contains the Benedictine propers for feasts specific to the Benedictine order. Note that this hymnal also works for those who want to pray the current 4-volume Roman office. It is actually the first released volume of the new Roman antiphonary… who knows when the rest will come.
Psalter: the 4-volume Psalterium Monasticum; based on the 1-week Benedictine cycle. You do the whole psalter in one week (with many repetitions: Ps 94 every day as invitatory, Ps. 66, 50, 148-150 every day at Lauds, Ps. 4, 90 and 133 every day at Compline, Gradual psalms at little hours). You also have all the collects for the liturgical year, all the psalms for Matins (Vigils), but only the short readings, and only very limited commons and no propers for saints.
For the proper antiphons for solemnities, feasts, memorials, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Eastertide and all Sundays of Ordinary Time, you will need an antiphonary. There are now two choices: the first is the 1934 Antiphonale Monasticum. However you will also need the booklet “Documenta” to adapt it to the modern office. However it is now being superseded in the Benedictine communities with the new Antiphonale Monasticum which is the second choice. Volume III was just released last month. Volume 4 will include all the psalms for Vigils which will now be on a 2-week cycle. Volume II is the new Psalter. Volume 1 is the De Tempore, Vol II is the new psalterium, and Volume III is the new sanctoral.
For the Vigil readings, you can use the 1-year cycle in Liturgia Horarum or Liturgy of the Hours. If you want the two-year cycle, Solesmes publishes the “Lectionnaire Monastique” in Latin and French. It has the two year cycle of scripture readings as well as a two-year cycle of patristic readings, as well as all the hagiographic readings for the saints. Excellent resource but very expensive for the 4-volume set (when I bought mine, I spread the purchase over a year, buying the volume for the upcoming liturgical time).
Finally, you will probably still want the 4-volume Liturgia Horarum (or the same in local language…I do my readings and the Universal prayer in French; the 1 volume “Christian Prayer” will do for English). The PM does not have all the daily short readings, which even in the Monastic office are now on a 4-week cycle and are identical to those for the Roman Office.
So basically, you’re looking at a library costing several hundreds of dollars if you want to pray the office in full conformity with the Thesaurus. In this way you will be in full union with the wider Church except for the psalmody which will be on an approved monastic schema. And you’ll be able, as I do, to chant the office in Latin. Incidentally, my abbey uses Schema B as you find it in PM. It’s lighter: you recite 150 vs 250 psalms each week, but you do the whole psalter in the week which was St. Benedict’s bottom line. Moreover, unlike St. Benedict’s schema, the psalms are better arranged to suit the character of the hour being recited. It’s the schema I mostly use although I’m experimenting with St. Benedict’s schema at the moment. When I travel however, I generally use the 4-volume Liturgy of the Hours in French. And when I psalmody at home in Latin, after I chant the psalm in Latin, I read it in French so I get full comprehension. My latin is somewhat rusty.
Another very handy thing to have is an Ordo from your diocese or religious community. For example, sometimes a saint can be recited from the common for martyrs and virgins. The Ordo will specify which commons your community will use.
One last thing is that with the Motu Proprio recently announced by Pope Benedict, it is possible to canonically pray the 1962 Roman Breviary. However you will need adaptations for the saints added since then and of course the calendar is also rearranged. I’m not sure any such adaptations have been published yet. I suppose you could try to use LH at least for the collects and proper antiphons for the saints.
Of course, this is for those who want to pray in unity with their community, and this is what “liturgy” is all about. However as a private devotion, there is no need to be as rigorous (or as poor.. you will need to take a vow of poverty after buying all these books which are very expensive…a rough estimate is about 50-80 bucks a volume and we’re talking about 10 volumes here…). There’s a lot to be said for keeping it simple too, and even if you only recite silently from the 1-volume Christian Prayer in English, you are in fact offering a liturgical prayer in unity with the whole Church.
Mike