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Despite its antiquity and
universal use in the Catholic Church, few Catholic families know anything
about this fundamental devotion and even fewer know how to use it.
To bring the Liturgy of the
Hours within the reach of all families and laymen, the Classical Liberal
Arts Academy publishes a free weekly guide to praying the
Hours. Our guide provides a detailed script for every hour
of prayer every day, allowing you to focus on reading and praying, rather
than searching for the right readings and prayers. For the first
time, a guide for laymen and women is available that removes every
obstacle that would keep your family from enjoying this rich tradition
of prayer and reflection. Subscribe today and begin
receiving our printable guide every Saturday morning by e-mail.
"The
whole life of the faithful, hour by hour, during day and night, is a
kind of leitourgia or public service, in which the faithful
give them-selves over to the ministry of love toward God and
men...For this reason the Hours are recommended to all Christ's
faithful members."
Pope Paul VI
PRAYING THE PSALMS
Mr. Michael has composed a helpful article to help you
understand how the Psalter is arranged, so that you can
pray the psalms with greater attention and devotion.
Click here to read the article:
Praying the Psalms.
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PRACTICAL TIPS
Location: If you are serious about praying the Liturgy of
the Hours, you need to set aside a place for prayer--preferably a room
that can be appropriately decorated and kept quiet. You should
have an altar, a crucifix, a statue of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph
and a copy of the Liturgy of the Hours for each adult. This
doesn't need to be expensive! Just get a few kneeling pads for
prayer and chairs to keep in the room: simple, but sacred.
Follow the Leader:
Someone needs to lead the recitation of the office. The leader
will open and close the office, read all prayers and the Scripture
reading, begin the antiphons and announce the page numbers.
Pray the Angelus:
It's a good practice the begin Morning, Midday and Evening Prayer with
the Angelus--it's in the CLAA Guide.
Opening Hymn:
Each hour of prayer opens with a hymn, but you will probably not know
many of them. No problem--replace it with a song you know, then
learn it for next time.
Reading the Psalms:
The Psalms are arranged according to a 4-week schedule. To
understand this schedule better, read Mr. Michael's article,
Praying the
Psalms.
The psalms may be read aloud
or chanted. Here are some
samples from our friends the Missionaries of the Poor:
Praying Personal
Intentions: Near the end of Morning and Evening Prayer, just
before praying the Lord's Prayer at the end of the office, is the time
for offering person intentions:
Individual: "For _____,
let us pray to the Lord."
Group: "Lord, hear our
prayer."
Then, continue with he Lord's
Prayer. For more practical tips for praying the Liturgy of the
Hours,
contact us.
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"Which version of the L.O.T.H
should I buy?"
 To
pray the Liturgy of the Hours, you will need your own prayer book(s).
In buying them, you will have two basic options: the one volume
abridged version, called "Christian Prayer", or the full four volume
Liturgy of the Hours set.
The ultimate
difference between the two is in the Office of Readings. If you
desire to pray/read the Office of Readings, you will need the 4
volume set. The Office of Readings includes a complete year's worth
of daily readings from Scripture and the Church Fathers that
correspond to the Church calendar.
However, if
you intend only to pray Morning and Evening Prayer or maybe add
Midday and/or Night Prayer, you will only need the one volume
version. This edition is so easy to use that our 6 year-old son
manages it by himself during our daily prayers.
Most people
end up buying Saints' biographies and Bibles anyway, but tend to
have a hard time bringing them all together into a profitable
routine of personal devotional reading. Instead of that, it may be
best to bet the four volume set and make the Office of Readings your
primary source for daily readings on the saints and in the
Scriptures. You can always read more if you find the selections
leave you desiring more, but we tend to "bite off more than we can
chew" when it comes to starting devotions. This is why the Office
of Readings is so helpful.
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