Comments for The Divine Office at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 15 out of 15 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Tue, 21 May 2013 13:30:19 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9967 To Matt, I think you'll find the website especially helpful. You can see all the prayers, and hymns, for each of the day's hours. If you choose, you can hear them being chanted, recited and sung as well. They've also got a great apps for handheld electronics like the iTouch. No big four volume sets with multiple ribbons to try to figure out! - Hugh Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:05:30 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9941 I started praying the Divine Office after reading an article about them in /New Covenant/ decades ago. Shortly thereafter we started making Vespers our family devotional, while Lauds tends to be my personal prayer time. Thus my six children were raised being washed, every day, in the words of Scripture! They were probably the only members of their respective classes who had substantial chunks of Scripture memorized (and certainly the only Catholics.) I cannot recommend too highly the Divine Office as a way of orienting and forming the Domestic Church. - Roger Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:45:31 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9931 Matt, believe it or not, there is a book titled "The Divine Office for Dodos: A Step-By-Step Guide to Praying the Liturgy of the Hours." - Dave Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:19:20 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9925 @dave et al. Can you recommend a book or site especially helpful in learning how to do the liturgy of the hours. I have a copy of the liturgy, but if you've ever tried to follow the instructions provided therein you'll probably agree they're only useful if you already know what you're doing. Thanks! - Matt Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:41:25 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9910 Thank you, Dave, for answering my question. Thank you, Fr. Bramwell, for another insightful and inspiring column. - Martinkus Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:22:31 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9909 I discovered the Liturgy of the Hours shortly after my conversion 4 1/2 years ago. I have prayed it ever since. The psalms lift my heart up to the Lord. The readings and prayers are so beautifully inserted. I highly recommend these prayers for everyone. To rtjl, I cannot envision priests having the time to join laity for the praying of the Divine Office on a daily basis. I think that may be expecting a bit much from our priests who already sacrifice so much of themselves for us. One need not be in the presence of a priest to pray the Office. There is the option of going to the church and praying in the presence of the Ultimate High Priest, Jesus Christ. The approved form is praying. God loves it, whether one is being led in the prayer or not. - Deblette Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:59:31 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9908 I discovered the Divine Office shortly after my conversion, 4 1/2 years ago. I can't imagine going a day without these prayers. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours lifts ones heart up to God. The psalms speak to me in so many ways. I highly recommend these prayers for everyone. To RTJL, one could not expect our priests to be able to fit in praying seven times a day with the laity. Our priests sacrifice and do so much for us already, I am not sure where you believe they would get the time for this. One does not need to be in the presence of a priest to pray the Divine Office. It can be prayed from home or bring it to the church and sit in the Sanctuary or in the Adoration Chapel in the presence of the Ultimate High Priest. The goal is to pray and it can be done alone. - Deblette Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:52:57 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9907 It's a shame though, that the rich, organic patrimony of the older form of the Office was essentially obliterated by the 'reforms' of the Consilium. How much richer could be the spiritual lives of our priests, and the laity as well? - Irenaeus G. Saintonge Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:18:15 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9904 Thank you for this beautiful exposition of the Liturgy of the Hours, Father. For about a year I've had a sort of LOTH fan blog, as a way of spreading the good news about the LOTH,giving basic how-to information, and answering questions from readers. Interested persons may Google it under my name. - Daria Sockey Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:09:22 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9903 Thanks, Fr. Bramwell, for reminding me why I pray the Office every day. - Geo Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:30:19 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9901 Thanks so much, Fr. Bramwell. The Catechism of the Catholic Church sets forth, at the end of 1175, that "the laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually," quoting from Sancrosanctum Concilium. Thus the faithful, far from emulating or imitating the clergy or those in the religious state, exercise in a manner consistent with their state of life the royal priesthood of the baptized (CCC 1174), with the important proviso that while recitation of the Office is mandatory for clergy and religious, it is optional for the lay faithful. For those inclined, the Liturgy of the Hours and Morning and Evening Prayer are widely available for purchase; the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is also available, whether in pre- or post-Council forms. I have prayed the Office off and on for many years and find that it is the quickest and deepest way to read and pray Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition with the mind of the Church. Your article, Father, coming as it does so close to Lent, has led me to return to as much of a daily recitation as the duties of my state in life permit. Thank you very much. - Dave Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:38:44 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9899 When Vatican II says that the Divine Office should also be prayed "by the faithful praying together with the priest in the approved form," does this mean that it is inappropriate for an individual Catholic to pray the Divine Office by when he is alone? - Martinkus Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:28:29 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9897 Thank you very much. I think that they are all from Verbum Domini. - Fr. Bramwell Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:03:02 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9895 "when this wonderful song of praise is rightly performed by priests and others... in the approved form, then it is truly the voice of the bride addressed to her bridegroom" My experience has been that if and when priests are willing to celebrate the Divine Office publicly, they choose to do it in a other other than the approved form. When laity wish to do it in the approved form they often have to go it alone without the leadership of a priest. How do we bring the two together so that both priest and laity celebrate the Divine Office together in the approved form? - rtjl Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:46:06 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-divine-office.html#comment-9894 Thank you, Father Bramwell. This is beautiful. Please post the titles of Pope Benedict's from which you drew the quoted passages. - Bangwell Putt Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:05:03 +0100