Word on Fire's Liturgy of the Hours
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT
Premium 4-Volume Set
$499.95 $359
or 4 payments of $89.75
Premium 4-Volume Set (Large Print)
$599.95 $429
or 4 payments of $107.25
Volume 2 (Lent) will be available in January followed by the other volumes ending in Volume 1 (Advent) in November.
This English Breviary is approved only for the USA. The rest of the English speaking world will continue to use the present translations as far as I know.
Supposedly this new Breviary will become obligatory in 2028. But I think that there is a lot or wiggle room since any cleric who prays the Hours with others satisfies their obligation even if it is from another office, e.g. the monastic office of the Eastern rites. For probably much longer that 2028 the only way to pray the office with the laity will likely be to use the old books, or buy Barron's $9 a month booklets which have in them Morning, Evening and Night prayer.
If you want to pray the full Hours the best place to start is
Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary)
What started as a mustard seed of an apostolate is blossoming and making a real change in the world.
In 2011 and 2012 the Liturgy of the Hours produced by this ministry was recognized as the best Catholic podcast, website and mobile app. Three Divine Office mobile apps were nominated as Best Catholic Mobile App in the About.com Readers’ Choice Awards 2012 edition.
The Divine Office prayer community spans through new media, social media, mobile apps, podcasts platforms and radio stations. Community members from all around the world gather in prayer through our mobile apps as well as through our free podcast and DivineOffice.org website.
As producer of Divine Office it has been my pleasure to work with dedicated volunteers who spent uncountable hours in the studio creating this beautiful liturgy. I want to extend my personal thanks to Chriss, Denise, Greg, Randy, Nicole, Melinda and Vince for their selfless donation of time to the benefit of our community in God’s worship. They are Divine Office readers and singers and this work started with them. Rebecca, Hugo, Richard, Natalie, Harriet and Philip are a few professional readers who joined our effort many years later, and they also deserve a heartfelt thank you!"
This great example of mostly voluntary lay leadership hopes to put up the new edition of the Divine Office as well as a Spanish edition! This organization fought both ICEL and the bishops to get what they have now, and I suspect they will have to fight the bishops to get approval for doing the new edition.
Christian Prayer, is a one volume edition of the present translation of the Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. I have not heard anything about plans to produce a one volume edition of these key Hours. Are deacons expected to buy the four volume set even though they are obliged to recite only Lauds and Vespers?
My website SAINT GABRIEL HOURS is essentially a breviary for Morning and Evening Prayer culled from Divine Office and other websites.
While Bishop Barron is promoting celebrating the Hours anywhere, anytime with anyone, he still argues that because of the sacramental nature of the Church we should be using books, either the four-volume set or the monthly worship aides.
I think virtual resources have a far better chance of accomplishing anywhere, anytime and with anyone than books. More importantly virtual resources create community whether or not their members meet physically.
Bishop Barron's rich donators are going to provide a four-volume set to all the seminarians in the country.
My husband has the present version loaded on his phone. He said it was free but they encouraged a free will donation. He donates a set amount each month. He also has the single volume that he got in formation, but later on got the 4 volume set. I don't think deacons will be expected to purchase the four volume set unless they want to, they didn't have to before (as long as they have access to the current version ) Even though they are only obliged to pray lauds and vespers, a lot of them choose to pray the other hours too.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense to give the seminarians the set, since they will pray in community during formation. There are worse things for donors to spend money on.
Jack- “While Bishop Barron is promoting celebrating the Hours anywhere, anytime with anyone, he still argues that because of the sacramental nature of the Church we should be using books…”
ReplyDeleteOf course he does—- $500/set. Money, money, money….
“… virtual resources have a far better chance of accomplishing anywhere, anytime and with anyone than books.”
Yes.
I think it is actually more than money. He uses high quality, expensive and beautiful materials to affirm a "rich life-style."
DeleteThe rich will, of course, want a set even if they rarely or ever, pray the Hours. They will, of course, want to donate money for seminarians, affirming the centuries old tradition of the rich supporting clergy and religious do the praying for their rich benefactors.
Oh dear. That is really sad.
DeleteBy the time the seminarians have been priests for a few years they will have tattered, falling apart breviaries with frayed ribbons, whether or not they were expensive to begin with. Because they have all their places marked, and it would be a pain to get used to a new one. Or maybe now it will all be on their phone.
DeleteI think it's great that this young deacon wants to promote the Liturgy of the Hours to the laypeople in the parish. That is the vision of Vatican II. Seems Anglicans have managed it for generations with their Evensong.
DeleteI have an app on my phone called Divine Office. I bought it for $25 when I saw it reviewed some years back on PrayTell. It feeds me the texts of all the Hours every day (only two of which I actually pray), including hymns - some of which I know, and some of which I don't. It also includes audio recordings of each Hour, for people who would like to pray along with an audio recording. From time to time, the app asks me if I'd like to donate more money. That seems fair. there must be some production costs associated with keeping the service up and running. But I confess that, almost always, I click the "Later" button.
DeleteMy only real gripe with it is, it only includes the prayers for saints of the sanctoral cycle when they are mandated for use. For optional memorials, it doesn't provide the option; it only gives the daily "ferial day" set of texts. I do understand that it's double or triple the work to provide alternate texts for optional saints; and as I'm one of the slackers who clicks the "Later" button, maybe I shouldn't complain.
I don't know, but it seems like there is more emphasis on the liturgy of the hours now, and not just for clergy and religious. The young man from our parish who is studying for the priesthood was ordained a transitional deacon at the end of May. The following Saturday morning parishioners were invited to join him for morning prayer with a short homily in the church, with coffee and donuts after. The church was pretty well full. They passed out handouts for people to follow along, and did it antiphonally with the right and left sides of the church alternating responses.
ReplyDeleteAt the wake for one of our Cleveland CLC members Betty and I did Evening Prayer from the Office of the Dead antiphonally from a handout with men and women alternating. It worked out very well.
DeleteThe monks from Saint Meinrad mark transitions in their community at Vespers after the reading, e.g. reception of novices, first profession, sending monks off on missions such as study, etc. and reception of oblates (their form of association). It has really helped Betty and I to know the community.
It seems to me that Saturday Morning Prayer and Sunday Evening Prayer and Weeknight Evening Prayer could be used in a similar way to create parish community, with a half hour service plus a half hour of socializing afterwards. A good way to welcome new members of the parish staff and celebrate various parish organizations.
One does not have to have a priest or deacon to preside. In fact, having two cantors or readers preside is a good way to alternate responses in the service. The person who gives a homily at the Hours does not have to be ordained. At a major conference at John Carroll a woman religious gave the homily even though a visiting archbishop presided and gave a conference talk afterwards.
I think one of the major obstacles to the Hours in the parish is how to integrate them with the Mass. There is a very easy solution that I have never seen done in a Latin Rite parish but experienced all the time in Orthodox parishes.
Combine Vespers or Lauds with Mass. One simply begins with the opening hymn and psalms of Vespers. The opening salutation can either be from the Mass or the Office. The hymn can either be appropriate to the time or the season. After the psalmody the penitential rite is omitted and, as circumstances suggest, the Kyrie; the Gloria then follows, if required by the rubrics, and the celebrant says the opening prayer of the Mass. The liturgy of the word follows as usual.
The general intercessions are made in the place and form customary at Mass. But on weekdays, at Mass in the evening, the intercessions of evening prayer may replace the daily form of the general intercessions at Mass.
After the communion with its communion song the Canticle of Mary with its antiphon from evening prayer, is sung. Then follow the prayer after communion and the rest as usual.
This will not work in our parishes unless we begin Vespers fifteen or twenty minutes early, have pauses between the psalms to accommodate people coming for the regular Mass start time and let people know that starting with Vespers is optional.
I really loved doing something similar at the local Orthodox church; it really enhanced celebrations of feasts. Betty and I also do it when we watch the Saturday evening Masses on our parish YouTube. We simply begin with Vespers. There is enough slack time after communion that the Magnificat fits in nicely. After a while you begin to think that this is the way all Masses should be. Actually, there is a provision for a hymn after the communion song. Most places use it for a reflection by the choir, but if you read the GIRM instructions it is really meant for solemn conclusions to Mass, e.g. the New Testament Canticles, Te Deum sung by everyone.
Jack, thanks, I am grateful for this post. I have not been very tuned in to the progress of the new translation.
ReplyDeleteIn our diocese (and I think in my dioceses), deacon candidates are expected to purchase the one-volume Christian Prayer. This includes all the texts for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer throughout the year, and texts for other Hours, including the daily Office. When I bought mine, right around the turn of the millenium, it cost ~$30. I haven't seen a price posted yet for a new edition of Christian Prayer, but I see an individual volume of the new four-volume edition is priced ~$70. That's probably roughly comparable; I think, accounting for inflation, the $30 from a quarter-century ago would be $60 now; and I suspect the archdiocese bought its books at a discount from the list price.
The current one-volume edition (in print since the early 1970s, shortly after the English version was promulgated) also includes about 200 hymns, some of which, aesthetically, are fine and some of which are not; but most of which are not translations or adaptations of the actual hymn texts from the Hours.
That current edition also includes quite a few chant tones and settings for chanting the psalms, canticles and other other prayers such as the Responsory and the Intercessions. I'm not too knowledgeable about the history of chant music used for praying the Hours, but I'm given to understand that many/most of these tones are derived in some way from more traditional material. I use the tones daily; but in my time and experience as a deacon, I have yet to meet another deacon who actually chants the Hours. There must be some more out there somewhere! But I think they are few and far between. I keep waiting for the Diaconate Office to ask me to train deacons to chant the Hours (not to mention various parts of the Mass proper to them, like the Lord Have Mercy and the Easter Dismissal) but apparently it hasn't occurred to them yet. :-)
Your post spurred me to read up on what is on offer starting this coming February. As you note, the full, four-volume set can be pre-ordered now, not only from Word on Fire, but from the other authorized publisher of the four-volume set, Ascension Press. And as you note, other editions such as the one-volume Christian Prayer aren't available yet for pre-order; Google Gemini believes the latter won't be available in time for the February 2027 launch date, but should be available in time for the December 2028 must-be-using-by date.
I agree with Katherine that these four volume sets are priced with the idea that generous friends or parishioners will buy them as gifts for their priest, deacon and religious friends.
I also agree to some extent that the only two authorized publishers "leading" with the expensive four-volume set is probably more about maximizing revenue than serving the genuine needs of the church. I say "to some extent" because they would probably argue that, by promoting the four-volume set, they are promoting the Hours in their fullness.
If one wishes to chant the translations of the Hours, one will need to purchase an entirely separate hymnal; or at least that is the case with the four-volume Hours edition. I see the hymnal is available already from GIA, one of the leading Catholic music publishers. I hope the new one-volume Christian Prayer will incorporate musically notated hymns and also include chant tones like the current version.
"Supposedly this new Breviary will become obligatory in 2028."
ReplyDeleteMaybe I am being too cynical, but I'd expect only some fraction of clergy to take up the new editions. Most of us are pretty old and set in our ways :-)
This isn't just hypothetical on my part; a few years ago, a new translation of the order of infant baptism came out, with a similar schedule: available for use on x date; must be using it by y date. My observation is that more clergy are still using the old edition than the new edition. As I say, lots of us are old and stiff-necked. Some genuinely won't be able to afford it. And some perceentage, probably a fairly high one, will be pretty oblivious to the existence of this new edition.
One more comment about the new breviary: the one-volume edition I use in my daily prayer is published by Catholic Book Publishing. I believe they have been the only authorized publisher of both the four-volume and one-volume editions since the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that Catholic Book Publishing is not one of the authorized publishers of the new four-volume set; and it is one of four authorized publishers of the new one-volume set, along with Magnificat, Liturgical Press and Midwest Theological Forum.
If you were to go to the Catholic Book Publishing website, you would be at the most staid website in existence. It is the least sizzling, most pared-back, minimalistic website one can encounter. It screams, "Our company was around long before the Internet, and we are spending the least amount of money possible on this electronic footprint, and only do it at all because our buyers would complain if we couldn't take their orders online."
In that light, it's of considerable interest to me is that the two authorized publishers of the four-volume set, Word on Fire and Ascension, are media-intensive "platforms", for which book publishing undoubtedly is an important activity, but only one among other, more-online ventures - apps, podcasts, etc.
Over the years, I've sort of evolved from being a very young deacon to a rather older deacon. One of the ways I show my age is that I'm not "platformed". I haven't glommed onto Word on Fire or Ascension or Hallow or any other platforms of that ilk. I've become aware that Fr. Mike Schmitz, who I think is associated with Ascension, is becoming a Catholic media superstar in his own right, perhaps on a par with Bishop Barron. I guess they are the Fulton Sheen or Mother Angelica of today's age; the Catholic television (or radio) personalities are sort of receding into the mists of time, I think.
(This comment grew so long that I've had to split it into two pieces. So my thoughts continue in the next comment.)
(Continued from my previous comment.)
DeleteI say I am not "platformed", but technically, I do subscribe to both Ascension and Hallow. They feed me promotional emails, so I'm aware of their online 40 day Lenten retreats, their First Friday preaching series, and so on. But I confess I never go into the apps or visit their websites. I don't consume any of their content. I'm sort of curious about it, in the sense that it's good for me to understand what Catholics are up to. But I'm busy enough that I have to sort of pick my spots for how I spend my time.
But in admitting this, I may be classifying myself as being from the Jurassic period. Because I'm becoming more aware that younger deacons really have glommed onto the platforms. They are fan-boys of Fr. Mike Schmitz and other budding platform-media superstars. When deacons get together, as we do from time to time, what's new on the platforms is becoming a bigger topic of casual chit-chat, in the way that chit-chat about The Chosen was big a few years ago among media-consuming Christians. The deacon-candidate couples my wife and I mentor are big-time into the platforms; when we first met them, they just took it for granted that we would know who Fr. Mike Schmitz is. (In fact, we had never heard of him :-)) When I mentioned to one of the candidates that I was in Minnesota recently, he asked excitedly if I had visited whatever church Fr. Mike is affiliated with. I am sure my look of puzzlement spoke eloquently to the fact that I had no idea what (or, at first, who) he was referring to.
I have no reason to doubt that Word on Fire and Ascension have really good content. But I'm not comfortable to live such a "mediated" faith life. Using "mediated" in a different sense here than the sense in which the Catholic church and, presumably, other denominations mediate our encounter with Jesus - or is it different? I am certain that Robert Barron, Mike Schmitz et al would say that their media-platform ventures are good Catholic apostolates, part of the church's evangelizing outreach. I think they would say their platforms provide a contemporary "way" - a way to be disciples.
I don't say they're wrong. But I would also note that the secular world would classify them as influencers. They are kinda/sorta like Mr. Beast and Alix Earle in that sense - different content, but same media category. Am I wrong to be a little distrustful about this? As I say, maybe I am from the Jurassic era.
So it's interesting that the bishops have seemingly leaned into the new platforms with this publishing decision. Maybe it's savvy; I am sure they'll reach a lot of people this way.
I have listened to Fr. Mike Schmitz a few times, and what he makes me think of is a 33 rpm record speeded up to 78. (Showing my age there, Millennials and Gens XYZ would have any idea what 33 or 78 rpm sounds like.)
DeleteI don't listen to Bishop Barron or EWTN at all.
I admire Catholic Book Publishing company for being minimalist and sticking to their mission. I see that the one volume book of Christian Prayer that I own is published by them. I have to confess that I don't use it on a daily basis much. I subscribe to the print version of Magnificat publication, which comes out monthly. It has an abbreviated version of morning and evening prayer, with Mass readings, and some reflections. I realize using that wouldn't satisfy a clerical obligation. But I'm a rather lazy layperson sometimes!
I hear you about not wanting to live a "mediated" faith life!
DeleteBarron and Schmitz both seek to be celebrity influencers. I had heard of Schmitz and looked at a video. I’m surprised that you hadn’t heard of him, Jim. He is to the extreme right of the church, but seems to keep more of a distance from politics than Barron. For example, he withdrew from the MAGA Evangelical prayer meeting on the Mall a few weeks ago when he realized what it really was ( MAGA white Christian nationalism). Barron participated, of course. Both want to be Fulton Sheen, now on the road to “ saint” hood. Reading about Sheen again I remembered that my mother loved him. She always watched his show. As a kid I mostly thought he looked like Count Dracula, pacing about and swishing his robes. Anyway, the church paints one picture. More objective sources paint a slightly different one, putting his achievements into context. What Barron and Schmitz share with Sheen is recognizing the power of technology - for Sheen it was TV. Now it’s the internet. Here is an AI summary.
Delete“If we completely discard all Catholic media, devotional books, and Facebook groups, we have to look exclusively at secular sociological data, non-religious university presses, and independent historical analysis of mid-20th-century America.
When you look at those objective sources, a very different—and much more grounded—picture emerges about where that "42,000" concept actually fits into history.
1. The Secular Academic View: The "Convert Boom" Era
Independent historians and sociologists who study American religion—such as those publishing through secular institutions like Oxford University Press or the University of Chicago—confirm that the 1940s and 1950s saw a massive, documented surge in adult conversions to Catholicism in the United States.
The Data: Secular demographic data shows that adult conversions to Catholicism in the U.S. peaked during the mid-1950s, reaching over 100,000 official entries per year nationally
.
The Context: Secular sociologists attribute this "Convert Boom" not to one man's spiritual power, but to broader post-WWII societal shifts. It was the era of suburbanization, the Cold War (where Catholicism was seen as a strong bulwark against Soviet atheism), and a general cultural push toward traditional family structures.To an objective historian, Fulton Sheen didn't single-handedly create 42,000 converts out of thin air. Instead, he was the highly visible public face of a massive, nationwide sociological trend.
The Mail Records: Secular post office records from the era confirm that Sheen's office was one of the largest recipients of mail in New York City, requiring a dedicated staff just to process letters.
The Dynamic: Even if only a tiny fraction of the millions of people who wrote to him actually went through the months-long process of joining a local parish, the math behind a multi-decade career makes a five-figure number plausible—but it remains an institutional estimate, not a peer-reviewed statistic.
The Objective Conclusion
If you strip away the religious framing, the objective, historical reality is this:
The Celebrity Conversions: These are verifiable historical facts, but they were brilliant public relations moves that functioned as marketing for the Church. [1]
The 42,000 Number: This is an unverified internal Church statistic that should be viewed as an estimate of his administrative reach rather than an audited fact.
The Real Impact: Fulton Sheen's actual historical significance wasn't a miraculous tally of converts. It was that he used the brand-new medium of television to make Catholicism—which had faced deep-seated prejudice in America for generations—culturally acceptable, mainstream, and respectable to the middle class. [2]
Continued. The AI conclusion
Delete“Sheen's actual impact was that of a master communicator who successfully used the birth of television to mainstream a minority religion into the American consciousness.”
Will Barron and Schmitz do the same? They are driving out many Catholics - those that aren’t on the right- wing edge. Because, like it or not, the church’s polarization reflects the political polarization and I’m not sure any efforts to have laity adopt The Hours in any format at all will help. But I agree with Jack that it would probably be easier to do so using a virtual platform with monks doing the singing. If people want to sing along it would be easier for them to follow the monks. Few of us are trained the way Jack and Betty, Jim, and Katherine are.
Catholics continue to leave the pews in great numbers — far more leaving than coming ( the latest I read was 11 leave for every new member) Few would be willing to spend hours each day reciting formal prayers, whether reading from a book or virtually. So short daily reflections like the book Katherine uses seem more likely to be used by laity. I too use books of short scriptural or wisdom quotations, reflections and meditations, mostly Christian, including quotations from the mystics or from the Desert Fathers. But not all my books are based on christian sources..
The media world just moves at a far faster pace than the print world. For example, the Divine Office Hymnal became available in 2023. However, it has not been incorporated into the Word on Fire monthly LOH booklet.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Sing the Hours now regularly uses the new official hymns for the majority of its hymns. So, if you want to sing the correct hymns simply go to Sing the Hours. You do not need to buy the Hymnal!
While Word on Fire sells about 30,000 booklets a month, thousands of users pray the Hours daily through various outlets like YouTube. Since not everyone that buys a booklet uses it daily for both Lauds and Vespers, I suspect that praying by media may already exceed praying by book or booklet.
As more and more laity pray the Hours, I suspect (as desired by Vatican II) that Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer will become the dominant Hours prayed daily, and the rest of the Breviary will recede into a matter of personal devotion. If I were a bishop, I would dispense priests from the rest of the breviary in favor of them spending time getting more and more of their parish members to pray Morning and Evening Prayer anytime, anywhere with anyone.
My life-long experience of praying the Hours, especially by augmenting it with recordings, leads me to believe that the Hours in their virtual form will become a strong part of prayer life of lay people. The history of the Hours in religious life (lay as well as clerical) indicates that it has been an important part of all the spiritual movements that have adapted Catholicism to the changing times. Well virtual reality is part of our changing times.
Deus caritas est!
ReplyDeleteI mentioned above that I have a Liturgy of the Hours app on my phone. I use it occasionally - generally when I'm away from home when it's time for Morning or Evening Prayer. It does the job. But I prefer the book. To my mind, the book is a concrete symbol or sign in a way that an app isn't.
ReplyDelete