The Liturgy of the Hours during the Easter Triduum

From the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Easter Triduum.

EASTER TRIDUUM

208. For the Easter triduum the office is celebrated in the way set forth in the Proper of Seasons.

209. Those who take part in the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper or the celebration of the Lord’s passion on Good Friday do not say evening prayer on either day.

210. On Good Friday and Holy Saturday the office of readings should be
celebrated publicly with the people before morning prayer, as far as this is possible.

211. Night prayer for Holy Saturday is said only by those who are not present at the Easter Vigil.

212. The Easter Vigil takes the place of the office of readings. Those not present at the solemn celebration of the Vigil should therefore read at least four of its readings with the chants and prayers. It is desirable that these be the readings from Exodus, Ezekiel, St. Paul, and from the Gospel. The Te Deum follows, then the prayer of the day.

213. Morning prayer for Easter Sunday is said by all. It is fitting that evening prayer be celebrated in a more solemn way to mark the ending of so holy a day and to commemorate the occasions when the Lord showed himself to his disciples. Great care should be taken to maintain, where it exists, the particular tradition of celebrating evening prayer on Easter Sunday in honor of baptism.
During this there is a procession to the font as the psalms are being sung.

New Theme

I’ve changed the themes lately on the blog, but I will stick with the one I have now. I think it’s a cleaner theme, and the lay out is a bit better.

If you have any questions, please post a comment and I will help out.

Thank you!

Palm Sunday

In the Liturgy of the Hours today, we read a homily by Saint Andrew of Crete in the Office of Readings. (Homily text taken from Universalis.

Let us go together to meet Christ on the Mount of Olives. Today he returns from Bethany and proceeds of his own free will toward his holy and blessed passion, to consummate the mystery of our salvation. He who came down from heaven to raise us from the depths of sin, to raise us with himself, we are told in Scripture, above every sovereignty, authority and power, and every other name that can be named, now comes of his own free will to make his journey to Jerusalem. He comes without pomp or ostentation. As the psalmist says: He will not dispute or raise his voice to make it heard in the streets. He will be meek and humble, and he will make his entry in simplicity.
Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish. Then we shall be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.
In his humility Christ entered the dark regions of our fallen world and he is glad that he became so humble for our sake, glad that he came and lived among us and shared in our nature in order to raise us up again to himself. And even though we are told that he has now ascended above the highest heavens – the proof, surely, of his power and godhead – his love for man will never rest until he has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory, and made it one with his own in heaven.
So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptised into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.

Finished Lessons- LOTH Tutorial

Below are the completed lessons of the Liturgy of the Hours Tutorial.

1. LOTH Tutorial-Introduction

2. LOTH Tutorial- The Hours

3. LOTH Tutorial-Invitatory

4. Morning Prayer (Lauds) and Evening Prayer (Vespers)

Right now I’m working on the Office of Readings, which will be completed soon.

I will work as much as I can on them, and hopefully will get all of the lessons done within a few months.

Thank you!

List of Christian Prayer Songs

A recent commenter brought to my attention a blog he had put together containing the songs (or the meter melody) of the Christian Prayer Liturgy of he Hours book.

Please visit the following link:

Christian Prayer Hymns BlogSpot.

Poll: How often do you pray the Liturgy of the Hours?

How often do you pray the Liturgy of the Hours?

Baronius Press Breviary (Update)

A few months ago I made a short post about the Baronius Press Traditional Roman Breviary.

Shortly after that post, Baronius Press updated their Forthcoming Titles webpage, including more up to date information about their breviary.

Roman Breviary – Breviarium Romanum
Latin-English Breviary [side-by-side]
Flexible cover (Black Leather), 3-Volume Set, Size: 4.5″ x 7″, Item No: 5500

Many of you have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Roman Breviary which has been plagued with constant delays and we are very grateful for all the emails and prayers of support that we have received.

The good news is, that after a long search, we have found a censor who has kindly agreed to undertake the tedious and very responsible task of carefully checking through our work to ensure that a Concordat Cum Originali can be granted. We ask you to join us in praying for the censor, that the work is completed as quickly as possible.

Once the Concordat Cum Originali is granted, the Breviary will be sent to the printers. At this point we will post full information on our website detailing costs and how to pre-order.

•It is based on the popular three-volume Collegeville Breviary in Latin & English, originally published in 1963.
• Follows the text and rubrics promulgated by Blessed Pope John XXIII – the form of the traditional Breviary approved in Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum.
• St Jerome’s traditional Gallican psalter from the Vulgate is given in the text of all the hours.
• Scriptural texts in English follow the Confraternity translation (a 1940s revision of Challoner’s Douai-Rheims Bible), which have been thoroughly revised to conform to the Vulgate text.
• Extracts from the Rituale Romanum (including the most commonly used litanies) given in an appendix.
• Contains Penitential Psalms and the Office for the Dead.
• Prayer card to include common prayers in Latin and English.
• A copy of Learning the Breviary will be included.

Here are a few sample pages:

Beautiful Homily in the Traditional Breviary Today- Feast of St. Joseph

Here is a beautiful homily today in the Traditional Breviary by St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. Located in the second Nocturn of Matins.

What and what manner of man the blessed Joseph was, we may gather from that title wherewith, albeit only as a deputy, God deemed him fit to be honoured he was both called, and supposed to be the Father of God. We may gather it from his very name, which, being interpreted, signifieth Increase. Remember likewise that great Patriarch who was sold into Egypt, and know that the Husband of Mary not only received his name, but inherited his purity, and was likened to him in innocence and in grace.

If then, that Joseph that was sold by his brethren through envy, and was brought down to Egypt, was a type of Christ sold by a disciple, and handed over to the Gentiles, the other Joseph flying from the envy of Herod carried Christ into Egypt. That first Joseph kept loyal to his master, and would not carnally know his master’s wife; that second Joseph knew that the Lady, the Mother of his Lord, was a virgin, and he himself remained faithfully virgin toward her. To that first Joseph it was given to know dark things in interpreting of dreams; to the second Joseph it was given in sleep to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

The first Joseph laid by bread, not for himself, but for all people; the second Joseph received into his keeping that Living Bread Which came down from heaven, not for him only, but for the whole world. We cannot doubt but that that Joseph was good and faithful to whom was espoused the Mother of the Saviour. Yea, I say, he was a faithful and wise servant, whom the Lord appointed to be the comfort of His own Mother, the keeper of His own Body, and the only and trusty helper in the Eternal Counsels.

The Feast of St. Joseph-Solemnity

Due to the Solemnity of St. Joseph this 4th Friday of Lent, we are not bound to keep the Lenten abstinence today.

Canon 1251 states:

Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless (nisi) they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

For more information on this topic, look at Fr. Zuhlsdorf’s article here.

Where do you pray the Liturgy of the Hours?

Please vote in the poll below: