This is a video series on how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.. also known as the Divine Office, Opus Dei or the Breviary. I am a lay person that loves this form of prayer and I wanted to share what I've learned in a (hopefully) easy to understand visual method. There are plenty of books and a number of videos out there, but I found the books to be difficult to follow and the videos I found were either too short or went through things to fast without detail.
There is a lot here that I've broken up into playlists. Hopefully it's not too hard to follow the order!
Good luck and God Bless!
P.S... I make the effort to respond to posted questions, so don't hesitate to ask!
I'm in my first year as a Lay Carmelite. We are obligated to pray morning and evening prayer with the option of night prayer. I just started with the Christian prayer book and I like it but I know as soon as I save up enough money I'll definitely purchase the four-volume set
I have “approached” the LOTH and the Christian Prayer books about 50 times over the past two years. Each time I sit down, I feel optimistic and determined, find a nice video that promises to help me understand the “recipe,” and within about 30 minutes I have given up. It’s like trying to follow a supposedly simple cookie recipe, except the recipe is impossibly dizzying: You’re going to start by measuring out the flour, baking powder, and other dry ingredients. So, you’ll need 4 cups of flour for this particular recipe, which is for every third Wednesday after a full moon. The 4 cups should be all-purpose flour, unless you’re between the age of 26 and 53, in which case you’ll use whole wheat flour (and on Thursdays this is completely different, but I’ll get to that later, in minute 385,719 of video #16). If you’re male, the whole wheat flour should be organic, and you should mix it 50/50 with pastry flour, unless you’re a redhead. [Redheads should use self-rising flour, but you’ll have to adjust your baking powder by the square root of 1/3 the sum total weight of all ingredients, which you won’t know until you completely finish the recipe, which may never happen.] Females will actually use the same flour, but mix it with the other dry ingredients in a slightly different order, just because. For the baking power, if you wear a 28-34 size belt, you’ll use 1/8 tablesooon less per inch of waistline, and add yellow food coloring just after you mix the dry and wet ingredients. Now, if it’s summer, skip the last 2 steps and go to step 14, but do step 11 after step 23. . . And now I’m just eating really crappy store-bought cookies again.
This comment is equal parts hilarious, relatable, and sad. Have you tried using an app like iBreviary or Universalis to help you rather than trying to navigate a book?
Pope Pius V did not "abolish" any liturgies that were established for over 200 years. Look up his Bull Quo Primum. So the Dominican Little Office, for example, and rite of mass, remained in force after 1570. This also established a principle of how to think about older liturgies. Now people like to say that Pope Paul VI abolished the traditional mass and office but he actually did not abrogate anything, as Pope Benedict explained in his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. Paul VI did ALLOW a suppression of all older liturgies, which amount to him saying that he does not prefer them. Whatever. So it seems that the older (1962 and older) Little Office is still the official prayer of the Church.
I got an old used copy which didn't have any ribbons, so I added a couple. It's easy with a small amount of superglue. The spine has a layer of thick paper between the cover and the page block, so I placed the glued ribbon in the gap between that paper and the page block, and pressed it into place with a toothpick. Don't forget to lightly melt the free ends of the ribbons to prevent fraying (assuming you used polyester ribbon.)
Thank you for the detailed introduction (both in this video and in the whole playlist). My copy arrived in the mail this afternoon and I was feeling rather confused when I tried to set it up without guidance.
I came to knowing of the Divine Office late in life. As an aspiring deacon we were required to learn the practice. As time went by, I came to wonder, "why did I not know about this sooner?" St. Ambrose (lived in the 4th Century and one of the first doctors of the Church wrote this about the book of Psalms: "History instructs us, the law teaches us, prophecy foretells, correction punishes, morality persuades; but the book of psalms goes further than all these. It is medicine for our spiritual health. Whoever reads it will find in it a medicine to cure the wounds caused by his own particular passions. Whoever studies it deeply will find it a kind of gymnasium open for all souls to use, where the different psalms are like different exercises set out before him. In that gymnasium, in that stadium of virtue, he can choose the exercises that will train him best to win the victor’s crown." I have come to understand the practice of the Divine Office is like working out in this gymnasium of which St. Ambrose spoke. It is not just the psalms - but the psalms comprise the majority of it. I appreciate that you promote this "workout".
Thank you so much for your explenation. This is so helpfull. May the Lord bless you. When I start praying I know now I am not the only one doing it. May know that we are in Christ praying together. Best wishes from Maaike, Living in Amsterdam.the Netherlands.
Thank you for these videos Christopher and welcome home to the Catholic Church! I have searched and searched for a good explanation of how to pray the LOH and came upon your videos last week. They are excellent! Concise, easy to follow, and informative. So, thank you and may God bless you!
I am so glad to have found this video. Thank you for explaining things carefully. My St. Joseph manual didn't come with the prayer card so I had to write them down. I do appreciate you explaining and going through the days of the sections. I'm trying to work hard on my praying cycle.
Thank you so much! It's been a long time since I posted these videos, but it brings me great joy to know that they are still helping people develop a solid prayer regimen... I always try to answer questions, so please don't hesitate to ask! -God Bless -c
Thank you! And I know exactly how you felt.... cobbling together written information and watching videos that blitzed through everything or assumed familiarity was frustrating. Everyone needs to pray and I just *had* to try to make it easier for everyone I could! God Bless! -c
Thank you, Christopher, for creating this entire series! 4 years have gone by and it's still helping people (like me) learn how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. UIOGD.
Thanks for the feedback! It brings me joy when people find their way here and that I've been of some help in learning to pray the prayer of the Church!
Thank you so much - this is just what I've been looking for! For some time I have felt that God was inviting me to a deeper prayer life, and I wasn't sure how to go about that. When I found out what praying the liturgy of the hours was, it was like the answer to a prayer. I now have my first book - Volume II (Lent & Easter) - and plan to being on Ash Wednesday next week, This group of videos is just what I need. Grace a Dieu!
I came across this book several years ago at a yard sale and picked it up. I have not said these prayers before and was very interested in correctly using the book. This was a good explanation and i made notes! Thank you.
Your disdain for the one volume Christian Prayer is noted. However, its genius is that it includes a hymnal set to musical notation and a music section which includes various psalm tones for chanting the hours and the musical settings for morning and evening prayer. It can be supplemented by the one volume Daytime Prayer which includes the four week cycle and psalter, but the Office of Readings can no longer be supplemented except by recourse to the four volume Liturgy of the Hours since the Daughters of St Paul edition of “The Office of Readings” is no longer in print. That volume included the complete Psalter for the office of readings, and I understand Christian Prayer uses an abridged psalter that is complete for Ordinary Time but does not include the seasonal variations used for Advent, Lent and Easter. It also includes a two year cycle of readings in an appendix, as opposed to the four volume office which has but one year of readings. The two year cycle of readings may be obtained from lulu.com
Because of the meticulous attention you paid to explaining this I now feel emboldened to start saying these prayers independently. Was introduced to them on retreat but didn't know how to start by myself. Currently doing them with an app, but very much looking forward to my books turning up in time for Lent. I cannot thank you enough. This was exactly what I needed.
That's fantastic! It's a very rewarding experience and you'll become comfortable with it as you pray the office regularly. God bless you and thank you for the feedback!
Absolutely! Many sworn to pray the Office choose to use the single volume Christian Prayer book due to its ease and not needing to juggle swapping out 4 books throughout the year.
Hey Christopher, I’m not from jersey so I’m not buying from jersey so put that in your pipe, anyway thanks for the suggestion . Buy the way I like your style this has been extremely helpful.
As far as I can tell with Shorter Christian prayer the psalter says the concluding prayer will be in the proper seasons for evening prayer, morning prayer and evening prayer two for this Sunday. Yet morning prayer is the only one that seems to have a conclusion prayer. Very confusing.
Christopher could you do the Office of Readings (Matins) as a stand alone in the One volume Christian Prayer? Once I get past the OoR Psalms and Psalm prayer it says use Readings sprayer from Office of the Day. The morning and evening each have a reading but no patristic or hagiographic reading? Can you cover this…. Do I just use Biblical and non-biblical texts in back of volume? Thanks, Pax.
Yes, you would use the texts in the back. There is an interesting read in the link below which includes this nugget: "This option is the result of another compromise. The experts reforming the Divine Office did not want the Office of Readings to be overly long, so that it would not be a burden to priests charged with pastoral ministry. Some of the experts, however, felt that some, such as contemplative religious and retired priests, might appreciate the ability to observe these more important days in an expanded way. The solution agreed upon was to relegate the material to an appendix of the book and leave it as an option." adoremus.org/2022/03/the-general-instruction-of-the-liturgy-of-the-hours-speaks-of-a-supplement-optional-lectionary-and-special-appendix-where-are-these-to-be-found/
Is the office of the dead asked to be prayed during the Octave of Christmas or do i need to wait until after the Octsve of Christmas? I have had 2 friends pass away in the past 2 days, I've was a coworker and one was my softball coach. Also Mary i am that you pray for me, i currently have covid.
A more learned colleague in formation with me says: "Two things... if not obligated to pray the office due to vows for example, you can pray whatever office you want. Office of the dead would be permitted on Tuesday as funeral masses are permitted so the office the dead is as well."
Hi! Just wanted to give an update on the app. They’ve updated the app already over the years. Its much more streamlined now. All the complementary psalters are put to the back, so you can basically just read through your whole thing quite easily. I use the app primarily because the actual hardcopy breviary is difficult to get where I’m from (malaysia) and its very expensive. But ideally, we should use the book. Because our phones are not exactly consecrated for prayer alone.
I watched the whole series. Thank you! This is the most comprehensive tutorial on this prayer i found on youtube. The demonstrations for each hour really helped😊
Great videos. Thank you for your service to our Lord. These will be a great help to many people. According to the GILH section 81, if you pray only one daytime hour, you use the psalms found in the four-week psalter. If you pray all three daytime hours, you use the four-week psalter for one of the three hours and you use the complementary psalmody for the other two. Also, if at the end of the psalter for daytime prayer it states, at the other hours use I and III from the complementary psalmody, it is because one or two of the psalms in II will be in the four-week psalter for that day’s evening prayer. (See Volume I, pages 952-954). The GILH Section 113 hints that “each psalm retains its own antiphon.” That is the only mention or hint of the single antiphonal situation that occurs for example in the daytime prayers for Advent and also in the canticles provided for the Vigils in Appendix I. My thought is to use the one antiphon for each psalm or each canticle so that “each psalm retains its own antiphon.” But my reasoning is not totally satisfactory because of the word “own”Unfortunately the GILH is not clear on this situation. I love the Liturgy of the Hours. Thank you for your work in promoting this prayer of the church. Also one of my favorite things is that the Our Father prayer is not written in full anywhere in the four volume Liturgy of the Hours.
MATINS the Morning Service and than the 1st hour is read at 6.00, the 3rd at 9.00, 6th at 12.00, 9th at 3.00pm. Than Vespers and after dinner Compline. There is also the Midnight Service at Midnight. Holy and Divine Liturgy (Holy Mass) should be celebrated between the 3rd and 6th hour. If there is no Liturgy (Mass) another Service can be read.
I use the shorter Christian prayer book. I'm not sure it has much less than Christian prayer. I use it for Night Prayer. I've also used it for morning prayer. But i don't have much more time. It's not my only devotional practice and my job is pretty busy.
Thank you for explaining this. It makes more sense now. Two thing, what time do we pray the morning and evening prayer and do you have to kneel down when your praying this??
Thanks! you answered my question about daytime prayer. Today I was comparing them both and didn't know why the psalms would be different! I also didn't even know there were different prayers through ordinary time like there are during Lent, Easter, etc. Very helpful!
Ignore Vat II: brown scapular, devotion to Immaculate Heart of Mary, Saturdays especially, and Office of Blessed Virgin are last gifts for world, at Fatima, per Sr Lucia of Fatima.
We cannot ignore a papal approved council of any sort. If you prefer some of the pre-VII devotions than go for it; but that does not dismiss the beauty of the reformed prayers. The bishops were led by the Holy Ghost to make these reforms. Is all of it perfect? No. But it never is. It is a work in progress, but it has great value. The brown scapular, the five first Saturdays, and the majority of devotions have not been changed in the slightest and are still done today. There are of course bad actors who try and rupture the Church under the guise of reform, but such people ignore the actual rubrics and have not and will not succeed. But accusing the Church of having a bad council when it was approved by the magisterium is accusing Christ's promise of protecting His Church from being conquered as a falsehood.
