I have fallen too far behind in my reading of the Liturgy of the Hours to keep going in Latin; so for the few weeks of Ordinary time coming up before Lent, I'm going to return to saying the Hours in English only.
I've found that while the Hours in Latin are, for me, more powerful, they also require more time as I translate/refer to the English -- particularly the Office of Readings, with its long passages of difficult Latin from Scripture and from the Saints. Time-wise, I've decided that humility is the better part of valor for now. I'll get caught up, and then I'll break out the Liturgia Horarum as preparation for Easter.
I do this with some sadness, but I have come to recognize that keeping the hours is more important to my spiritual well-being than doing it in Latin. And by doing it in English, I can carry one simple Breviary around with me to pray from when I get a few minutes, rather than carrying around English, Latin, and a Hymnal.
I am currently a full week behind, and am still in the week of the Epiphany.
Another suggestion I've received is that I simply omit the week of the Epiphany, but I do not want to miss any of the readings. Silly, perhaps, as in a pure sense, I've already missed them -- and my soul feels it. But I intend to get caught up by reverting to my mother tongue until Lent, at which time, I'll break out the Latin. It is a fine language in which to be penitential.
Comments (2)
You might try mixing and matching a bit -- the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours explicitly permits this. I myself have been using Latin antiphons on the Benedictus and Magnificat (with the canticles in Latin, too) with everything else in English lately.
I suspect most would have to start doing the Office of Readings in Latin quite a bit later than doing the principle day hours in Latin -- much harder to do that huge block of text in Latin than just praying the Psalms. :-)
I am plugging away at the Latin-English Psalter I mentioned on my blog. Hope to have it ready in a couple of months.
Posted by Fr Chris | January 15, 2008 1:38 PM
Posted on January 15, 2008 13:38
I have pretty much memorized the psalms for Terce, Sext, and None, so I suppose I could do all three of the short hours in Latin with an English hymn. After a month and a half of Latin, I've noticed the English is a real breeze. For now, I think I'll keep them in English until I get caught up.
Posted by The Abbot | January 15, 2008 9:43 PM
Posted on January 15, 2008 21:43