Originally published at National Catholic Register
The Liturgy of the Hours, lectio divina and the study and practice of the Rule, are at the heart of the Benedictine oblate’s spiritual life.
As devotees of the Office know, there are many options for praying them. The Benedictine Monastic Diurnal is the gold standard, following the Holy Father Benedict’s layout as a one-week psalter. (This does not include Matins, which requires a separate book and is long enough to be impractical outside of monastic life.)
The four-volume Liturgy of the Hours, and its smaller siblings Christian Prayer and Shorter Christian Prayer, have been the primary authorized breviaries in America for decades now. They’ve been in the process of revision to conform more fully to the Latin text, and it seems like the new edition is always two years away.
The Liturgy of the Hours is fine and, indeed, excellent in some respects. I happen to like the Grail Psalms at the heart of its four-week psalter. What they lack in elevated language they gain in a natural, flowing sprung rhythm. The mutation of Matins into the Office of Readings is perhaps a little too much of a compromise, but there’s no denying its remarkable selection of scriptural and
