Liturgy of the Hours: Advent and Christmas /No. 401/10

Liturgia Horarum

by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, International Commission on English in the Liturgy, The Grail Psalms

This first volume of the official English edition of the Divine Office, for use during the Advent and Christmas Seasons, contains the translation approved by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy. Includes the current ST. JOSEPH GUIDE FOR THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS (Product Code: 400/G) and INSERTS FOR THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS (Product Code 400/I). Additional copies of the current ST. JOSEPH GUIDE FOR THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS (Product Code: 400/G) are available.

Genres: Prayer, Classics, Christianity, Religion, Catholic

1728 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1975

About the author

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (USCC), it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic hierarchy (i.e., diocesan, coadjutor, and auxiliary bishops and the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter) in the United States and the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands. In the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the bishops in the six dioceses form their own episcopal conference, the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference (Spanish, Conferencia Episcopal Puertorriqueña). The bishops in U.S. insular areas in the Pacific Ocean – the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Territory of American Samoa, and the Territory of Guam – are members of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (Latin, Conferentia Episcopalis Pacifici).

The USCCB adopted its current name in July 2001. The organization is a registered corporation based in Washington, D.C. As with all bishops' conferences, certain decisions and acts of the USCCB must receive the recognitio, or approval of the Roman dicasteries, which are subject to the immediate and absolute authority of the Pope.

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first volume (of four) in the series of The Liturgy of The Hours. This is published by Catholic Book Publishing Corporation. This also contains helpful background information about the Apostolic Constitution, general instructions on how to navigate through the prayers, a table of liturgical days, celebrations of the liturgical year, and a general Roman calendar.

This particular volume is the instructional for daily prayers for the Roman Catholic Church. Daily prayers for Advent and Christmas are the focus in this volume yet include the Four-Week Psalter. The four-week cycle of the Psalter is so arranged in conjunction with the liturgical year that the first week coincides with the First Sunday of Advent until the Baptism of The Lord. It includes Weeks I-IV, the night prayer, and the complementary Psalmody.

As with the other three volumes, there is the Ordinary of The Liturgy of The Hours. This is the skeleton for the prayer sequence: The Invitatory (to include the opening phrase 'Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise' and Psalm 95 with the antiphon) and The Office of The Readings (the hymn, the Psalmody, the verses, the readings and responsories, and concluding prayer).

Prayer times include:
The Invitatory (which starts the prayer sequence of each day, pg. 41)
Morning (Laud)
Midmorning (Terce)
Midday (Sext)
Midafternoon (None)
Evening (Vespers)
Night (Compline)

The book then has Proper of The Saints from 30 November (Andrew, Apostle) through 7 January (Raymond of Penyafort, Priest). The Commons prayers with the hours, the Office of the Dead, and appendices/indices (Psalms, Canticles of Mary/Zechariah, Biblical readings, hymns, and much more, like the Te Deum).

I would recommend this to anyone interested in learning an in-depth prayer structure based of Roman Catholicism. The daily prayers are designed for community or individual use (the red-text font gives instructions for those participating in either). The font is large with black-font text, red-font instructional, and has five colored ribbons to set your prayers as each day moves. Thanks!

[Mike Gartland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaiah prophecies relate the Old Testament to the New Testament.

[Andrew H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never before have I engaged with something so rich and powerful.

[Melissa Reagan Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and impactful. Looking forward to many years ahead with this prayer book.