WORD ON FIRE NEW BREVIARY

 

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)

"On August 6th 2006 our first Catholic website and podcast series went live and two years later DivineOffice.org website was launched.

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. 

 

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' review of JD Vance's book, Communion

Thanks to Jean for pointing out Archbishop Rowan Williams' review in The Guardian of JD Vance's book:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/29/communion-finding-my-way-back-to-faith-by-jd-vance-review-veep-behnd-the-curtains

He read the book so I don't have to. Here are some excerpts from his review:

"At the heart of this strange, perhaps rather poignant, book is the biblical question: “What must I do to be saved?”

Are we a democracy or a republic?

 Actually, we're both.  There was a good article on NPR:

Is America a democracy or a republic? Yes, it is : NPR

"What do we call the system of government in the U.S.? Are we a democracy or a republic?The conundrum is, well, as the common expression goes, "as old as the republic itself."

"But it's not just a question for scholars and semanticists any more."

What ChatGPT Told Me About Jesus and the Woman at the Well

 The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is found in the Gospel of John, chapter 4. It is one of the longest and most theologically rich conversations Jesus has with anyone in the Gospels.

The Traditional View: A Sinful Woman

For many centuries, Christians often assumed she was a sexually immoral woman. The reasoning was straightforward:

"You have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband." (John 4:18)

Many sermons portrayed her as an outcast whose immoral life was exposed by Jesus. Her coming to the well at noon ("the sixth hour") was often interpreted as evidence that she was shunned by other women and therefore avoided the cooler morning hours.

However, modern scholars are much more cautious about this interpretation.

Was She Really Immoral?

The text itself never calls her a sinner, adulteress, prostitute, or immoral woman.

In fact, John's Gospel is usually quite willing to identify sin explicitly when it wishes to do so.

Several points argue against the traditional interpretation:

1. Women Had Little Control Over Marriage

In the ancient world, women generally could not initiate divorce (except in some regions and circumstances). If she had been married five times, the causes could have included:

• Widowhood
• Divorce by her husbands
• Levirate marriage obligations
• Economic necessity

A woman who survived multiple husbands might be more a victim of circumstances than a perpetrator of sin.

The fourth way out

There is a fourth way for the Trump presidency to end.  We all know of the first three ways, death, impeachment with a conviction, or the 25th Amendment. The fourth way is resignation. I actually didn't think of this, it was James Carville who voiced the idea:

Joan Chittister - The Sexist Church I Love

 I receive Joan Chittister's emails, and own several of her books.  I have met her more than once at the Washington National Cathedral when she was invited to give talks, or a homily.  The Bishop of the Washington Diocese, Maryann Budde, is a big fan of Sister Joan.  At one talk, given after the liturgy in which she gave the homily, a woman stood up and said "I am a Catholc woman. Why do I have to go to an Episcopal church to hear Sister Joan speak or give a homily".  The reaction rippled through the congregation- it was clear that she was only one of many Catholic (or formerly Catholic) women in the congregation. There was applause.  This article is from Sister Joan's email today.  

A funeral for death by violence

Last week, I presided at a funeral liturgy for two murder victims.