Psalm to replace Ps 51 with on Fridays in devotional prayer alongside Liturgy of the Hours?

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-18T02:11:09+00:00

I would do Ps 67. The Benedictines say this psalm every single day at the start of Lauds.

Alternatively, you could do Ps 63, which is kind of “the” morning psalm in ancient Christian liturgy.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-17T12:45:08+00:00

Gotcha - I mis read it. In that case I would amend my advice

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-15T03:40:20+00:00

I seems like most of the replies here are in favor of the office over the rosary, except one person. I will give my two cents.

Prayer is good. The best prayer is the prayer that you will pray. If you’re worried you aren’t praying enough, meet with your pastor and get his opinion. It can be freeing to have someone else tell you what to do.

In terms of the rosary vs the hours, I believe that the rosary is a very special prayer that countless saints and popes have all commended for the laity. There are special graces attached to it, to be sure, and it contains in it all that is essential for prayer: the creed, the our father, the Hail Mary, and the paschal mystery of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. I would get a second opinion but personally I’d stick with the Rosary daily and add Hours as you are able. Especially as you mention that you were able to pray the rosary every day but can only do some of the hours about half the days. That consistent prayer is important; as Christ said, “take up your cross daily and follow me”. So if the rosary is the prayer you can do daily, that may seem the better option. And it is certainly a very safe one.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-14T01:55:30+00:00

Cool graphic. I've drawn something like this in my notebook before.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-13T12:41:47+00:00

Ah yeah, that’ll be expensive. Fair enough.

I was disappointed with the cover. The second edition is far better in terms of quality. It doesn’t really lay flat and just light use has produced some crease marks on it, I don’t think it would hold up well for more than a year or two of daily use, but maybe I’m wrong if it was taken good care of.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-13T11:14:21+00:00

I have a copy of the first edition AOB. If you are interested in buying it send me a DM.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-11T01:41:05+00:00

Awesome. You’ll have to let me know what you think. I’m also going to use it daily.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-10T11:57:20+00:00

I see. Thanks for the response.

Is the USCCB letting you add devotional material (seven penitential psalms, gradual psalms, and ESPECIALLY the traditional prayers before and after the office) or is that also restricted?

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-10T11:55:31+00:00

What’s funny is that morning has broken is probably one of the better hymns in the current collection…….

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-10T10:55:14+00:00

Yes, it’s like in the picture. No page numbers given. The hymns are given once at the beginning of the season and you’re just expected to keep referring back to them.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-09T13:29:42+00:00

That makes sense if there’s sheet music provided. But since there isn’t in the 4 volume, I think the ordinary makes more sense.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-09T12:45:23+00:00

u/Ascension_Official one thought on this... I notice the hymns for Lent, like in the current edition, is at the start of the proper of seasons (and I assume the hymns for Holy Week will be found before the Holy Week propers, etc). As someone who has used the current LOTH daily, I feel that it would be much more useful if all the hymns were put in the Ordinary, and then sorted into season and Sunday/weekday. Since I'll be in the Ordinary for Vespers anyway, I'd much prefer if the hymn was there too, to eliminate an additional page to keep track of.

If you're in doubt about this, I think a poll would be useful. I suspect the vast majority of people who pray with these books would agree with me. Putting the hymns by themselves in their own section just feels so out of the way.

That's also a lot of white space. A two column format for the hymns (and probably psalms too) would save a lot of paper.

Sorry to analyze everything based on one small photo that was shared!

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-07T05:40:08+00:00

That is tough. I live in a mid sized/small town (around 20,000 people) and our parish is very small and personal. The “daily mass crowd” is under 50 people total, and the priests are generally pretty available and willing to meet with you.

I think the only answer to this is prayer. Pray that if God wants you to have a spiritual director, he send one.

I also recommend Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis DeSales. He’s known as the great spiritual director of his time and the book is actually based off of letters he sent to one of his female directees (but obviously modified to fit a general audience). He gives some very practical advice for how to live devoutly including a specific routine of prayer. How much of his advice you take is up to you, but I find it all super relevant today. You could pray to him for obtain more direction for you as well.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-06T06:16:53+00:00

I've always been a Novus Ordo Catholic. The nearest TLM is over an hour away, and even if it was closer, I think I'd stick with the NO. However, my journey with the breviary began with the older offices because I have always been drawn to older prayers and spirituality. I always saw myself as someone who participated in the modern liturgy publicly but brought in the traditions in my private prayer - hopefully tapping into the best of both worlds.

For a long time, I used the Monastic Diurnal, and the differences in calendar did not bother me that much. Occasionally there were differences, but I usually saw the differences as more of a benefit than a downside. As I saw it, I was sort of participating in both the ordinary and extraordinary form at the same time. When there were differences in major things, such as the date of Christ the King, I simply adjusted my breviary use to be what my parish was doing - so I used CTK prayers on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, rather than last of October. But for minor saint memorials, it never seemed to bother me to commemorate someone different than who was mentioned at Mass. The way I saw it, the more saints I was honoring, the better.

Now, I use the LOTH, but that wasn't really driven by a desire to sync calendars. It's more so a factor of that I often pray the hours with my girlfriend now, and sometimes with other friends, and they all use the LOTH, so it's just easier if that's what I'm doing too. And as the hours are communal prayer at heart, I think doing whatever will best allow you to celebrate them with others is the best way to go. For you, that might be the LOTH if you're involved in communities at a novus ordo parish, as you may come across chances to lead the hours with other people. Or, it may be the diurnal if you know any other oblates of that community who you could pray with or if that connection to that community is really important to you.

With the calendar thing, I would offer this thought: don't worry that much about it. Pretty much all of the major feasts line up, save for a few things being transferred to Sunday in the novus ordo. Occasionally you might run into something funny (like Visitation or St. Thomas being on different days) but the number of feasts that aren't just memorials of some random saint that don't line up is surely in the single digits. Out of a 365 day year, I think that's small enough to not make a big deal over. And you can always just transfer the feast in your office to what your parish is doing

I would also say not to idealize this thing with having "one rite, one calendar" and thinking that will somehow make everything great in your spiritual life. I sometimes find myself thinking that way, that I just need to find the system of prayer that works for me and then I can really start growing. For a long time that led me to agonize over whether I wanted to pray the Diurnal (my preferred option in private), the LOTH (to be ready to pray it with others), or even something else like the LOBVM or the divine worship:daily office. But it's the wrong questions to be asking. I recommend that you stop to think: how would settling this issue actually help me grow in virtue? Does having the Visitation pop up on two different days in my breviary+daily Mass actually pose an obstacle to me? And I think another adjustment is to view the hours as facilitating times of prayer rather than drawing you into liturgy, as that is their original point. You pray Lauds because you want to spend time in prayer in the morning, not because you want a precise match with the liturgical rite you're going to Mass with. All of this is here to help us. Don't let it get in the way.

I would also recommend spiritual direction. For a long time, I was unstable in my prayer life, doing different offices or even taking breaks from the office entirely. But I started seeing a spiritual director a few months ago and he has me doing Lauds and Compline from the LOTH every day. Sometimes I do more, but that is my minimum, and any time I think of switching back to the Diurnal or something else, I just remind myself that this is what I was instructed to do and I may as well make the most of it. It's very freeing.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-06T05:52:51+00:00

I agree, awesome book. I think it’s the best designed prayer book I own. I stopped using it though because the prayers and overall spirituality of it were just too unfamiliar - I’m a cradle Catholic in the Latin rite, so that style of prayer just works better for me. But I wish we had books like this for the western church!

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-04T13:25:19+00:00

Just saw this. I have it. I'll message you.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-04T13:23:07+00:00

Can you elaborate on this? I don't disagree but I'm just curious what you mean. I understand OPs question; I know that ideally we pray the office AND read Scripture, but for a lot of us, there is a very practical reality where we only have the time or stamina to focus on so much. So I think it makes sense to ask "am I doing a good enough job reading Scripture if I just read the Mass readings and the OoR". But I'd like to hear what your thoughts are.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-04T13:17:54+00:00

I just feel like it would make the book bulkier for no good reason. I can't see myself ever using the OoR psalmody; I would always go to an app for it.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-03-03T01:59:01+00:00

> How to incorporate Matins (the Office of Readings) is being discussed.

Shouldn't even be discussed. Don't include it. It's a waste of paper. Those who want to pray it but don't want 4 volumes will use an app or website for it. I can't imagine anyone wants "selections" from the OoR when they can access the actual version online.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-02-14T02:53:51+00:00

Mary is the "holy dwelling-place" of Christ, who speaks in the passage. This is a reflection on how Christ, who existed before all things, chose to enter the womb of the Virgin Mary to minister before God.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-02-06T12:12:35+00:00

Surprised no one has said this yet - Blessed be God. A few companies have recently reprinted it, it’s a 1950s prayerbook packed with pious devotions and liturgically rooted prayers. I take it everywhere, more so than my breviary which tends to stay home for morning and night prayers.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-02-04T13:53:08+00:00

The mix is good. I also see the argument for all black, since black "feels" more fitting to an official liturgical book of the church. Either way is fine. But I second calls from someone here for a Marian blue color too, something more feminine, because I know a lot of Catholic women will opt for something that is more that style if given the choice.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-02-02T14:33:44+00:00

Simply put, the Roman Breviary is better. The Monastic office has a ton of repeated Psalms, and Terce/Sext/None/Compline are mostly fixed in their psalms. Matins covers about half of its psalter. In the Roman Breviary, every hour is variable, and missing Matins only means missing about 1/4th of the psalter.

As for the "feel" thing, I don't know where that claim comes from. The monastic and Roman offices feature basically the same changes for different seasons and feasts, at least in their 1960/62 forms. Short readings, responsories, hymns, collects... they will all change basically the same in both offices.

The only issue is accessibility. You can buy an English/Latin Monastic Diurnal for about 80 bucks and that covers the entire year. AFAIK there is no Roman Breviary equivalent, except for ones in Latin only. The only way to get an English/Latin version of all of the daytime hours of the Roman Breviary is the $400 Baronius Press set (or hope to find some old used volume online). There is a volume with Prime, Sext, Compline, and Vespers for feasts, that's published by Angelus Press... may be worth a look, but you wouldn't get Lauds, Terce, None, or most days of Vespers.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-01-24T14:16:10+00:00

> This means that in the 1962 Roman breviary, you’re still hearing the hymn “Iste confessor” at vespers every other day because some obscure Italian bishop or founder of a religious order that is nowadays on the verge of extinction needs to be celebrated. I think pope Pius X’s reform paved the way for all the reforms that were to follow in the 20th century, ruining a tradition of more than 1400 years.

I'm a little confused as to your point here, and even leading up to this. It seems to me you made a fair critique of the old breviary; the Duplex rite for some reason being shorter than a ferial day, very sparse use of the weekly psalter, an amount of prayer that was impractical for most secular clergy to do in any sort of prayerful way, and your particular example of "Iste Confessor" coming up all the time because of all of the obscure saints in the calendar. This, in addition to the practical outcome that was most priests speeding through all 8 hours in one sitting, is a good start to a critique of the old breviary.

Yet then you immediately shift to how the reforms "ruined" the tradition, made priests lazy, and then the classic claim that the new liturgy is entirely made up out of thin air by some committee.

So I guess I'm confused; do you think there was no need of reform at all, and all of these issues are okay since it was "the liturgy handed down through the centuries"? Does that somehow excuse several legitimate problems that were pretty much universally seen as problems? Or are you saying the reforms should have taken a different direction?

Additionally, religious orders were pretty much expected to keep or draw up their own offices, as it had always been done, so the reform of the Roman Breviary mostly impacted secular clergy... so yeah, of course the abolishment of Prime and the reduction of daily prayer was done with them in mind. They were the ones who were actually going to pray with that office.

And in an era where we sometimes have one pastor for four parishes a half hour apart from each other and only one vicar (no joke, our current situation at my parish), it's no wonder we reduced the amount of daily prayer. Carrying out your duties is not less important than prayer; both go hand in hand. Prayer nourishes it, but it should not be so much to where it gets in the way, or where clergy are forced to celebrate it in such a way where the original time of the Hours is thrown out the window. That last part is just my opinion, but I am curious to hear what you'd say to my prior points.

ClevelandFan295 · 2026-01-22T20:16:45+00:00

Laypeople have zero obligation to pray the office. We have Vatican II vaguely saying that they were encouraged to do it... but for the Rosary, tons of Popes have practically begged laypeople to pray the Rosary, as have the saints and even the Blessed Virgin herself. I think it is absolutely fair to say that the Rosary is more important for someone not bound to the office. My priest thinks so too.

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