ORGANIZATION AND CONTENTS OF EDITIONS
OF THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS
ORGANIZATION
Each of the four
volumes of the complete edition and each of the editionsof
Christian Prayer has the same basic organization. The
organization of the shorter versions is similar. The sections found in
these volumes include:
·
ORDINARY
·
FOUR WEEK PSALTER
·
PROPER OF THE
SEASONS
·
PROPER OF THE SAINTS
·
COMMONS
·
OFFICE FOR THE DEAD
·
OTHER FEATURES
CONTENTS OF EACH
MAJOR SECTION
ORDINARY
·
Provides the basic structure of each hour
·
Is
printed in two colors.
Red print = instructions (rubrics)
Black print
= actual text of prayers, readings, etc. [Note: Only the unchanging
(ordinary) prayer texts for each hour are printed in this section.
Those texts which vary from day to day or from one season to another
are found in either the Four Week Psalter, the Proper of the Season or
the Proper of the Saints.]
·
The
hours are presented in the Ordinary in the following order:
+
Invitatory
+ Office of Readings (in four volume and some
one volume editions)
+ Morning Prayer
+ Daytime Prayer (in four volume and some one
volume editions)
+ Evening Prayer
+ Night Prayer (in four volume and some one
volume editions)
FOUR WEEK PSALTER
The psalms prayed
in the Liturgy of the Hours are arranged in a four week pattern. This
section contains all of the psalms for the four weeks arranged
according to the hour of the office and the day or the week on which
they are prayed.
The Ordo
(Church calendar of feasts and seasons) will tell you which week is
being prayed. You can also find the proper week by consulting the
beginning of the Sunday Office in the Proper of the Seasons (see
below). The week of the four- week cycle assigned to a specific week
of the liturgical calendar is given there(e.g.
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT, Psalter, Week II;
or NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, Psalter, Week I).
PROPER OF THE SEASONS
·
It is the first
of the sections found in each of the editions of the Office and
immediately precedes the Ordinary section
·
This section
provides prayers, readings, etc. for the Seasons of the Lord in the
Church year (i.e. Lent, Triduum, Easter Season; Advent,
Christmas, Epiphany Season; Ordinary Time.)
·
At the
conclusion of this section may be found the Solemnities of the Lord in
Ordinary Time which do not have a fixed date. These Solemnities are:
Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, Sacred Heart, Christ the King.
PROPER OF SAINTS
·
This section
contains celebrations of Our Lady, the Saints and significant Church
events arranged according to calendar dates.
·
The location of
the section varies, but it is always found after the Ordinary.
·
For Saints and
events celebrated only in the United States, see the Proper for the
United States provided in an Appendix.
·
Texts for
celebrations of Our Lady and saints which have been changed or added
to the calendar since the publication of the office books may be found
in a supplementary pamphlet available from the publisher.
COMMONS
·
Contains Hymns,
Psalms, Readings and Prayers common to a specific category of saints
(Virgins, Martyrs, Doctors, etc.)
·
This section is
located after the Proper of the Saints in each edition.
OFFICE OF THE DEAD
·
Contains the
entire office which is prayed for a person who has died.
OTHER FEATURES
In addition to
those listed above, each volume also contains the following:
·
Calendar
of Principle Celebrations of the Liturgical Year through 1999
~ (found in
front of book)
·
General
Roman Calendar
~
[Celebrations assigned to specific dates in the Liturgical Calendar
observed by the entire Roman Catholic Church throughout the world]
(found after preceding calendar)
·
Table
of Liturgical Days
~ [Four volume edition only] This table shows categories of
celebrations and indicates which are of greater and which of lesser
importance. It can be helpful when two important celebrations fall on
the same day, e.g. the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the
First Sunday of Advent. This table may also be found in its original
location at the end of the General Instruction on the Liturgical
Year and the Calendar.
·
Hymns
~ In the
four-volume edition and in some of the one volume editions the texts
of hymns are located at the beginning of each hour. In the Catholic
Book edition of Christian Prayer the hymns including text
and music are collected in a separate section toward the end of
the book.
·
Poetry
~ A collection of
poems which may replace hymns in private recitation is provided in
each volume of the four-volume edition and in the Daughters of St.
Paul edition of Christian Prayer.
MANAGING YOUR
MARKERS
You may find it helpful to
keep markers in your book at the current page in the following places:
·
The Proper of the Seasons
·
The Four Week
Psalter
·
The Proper of
the Saints
·
The Ordinary
·
The Common of the Saints
Top of Page
© Sister Janet
Baxendale, S.C.
Composed for the Archdiocese of New York Liturgical Commission.
