If you are drawn to dignified traditional language, you are probably not so thrilled about modern English breviaries. However, there are a few breviaries which use the Douay-Rheims Version of the Bible, which I wrote about in another article called The Douay-Rheims Bible is still a Great Choice.

One such breviary is the one-volume Roman Breviary in English by the Benziger Brothers. Another is the three-volume Roman Breviary in English and Latin published by Baronius Press. Both are very expensive.

A small breviary

I have an inexpensive small breviary which also uses the Douay-Rheims Version.

It's called The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is also published by Baronius Press.

It's a Latin and English edition which is sewn bound and comes in a beautiful blue leather cover.

It's smaller in size than Shorter Christian Prayer by Catholic Book Publishing Corp.

There are other similar editions of the Little Office by other publishers such as Angelus Press which I have yet not tried.

The Angelus Press edition is a glue bound paperback, but according to the reviews on the web the contents are excellent. If they ever produce a sewn bound leather edition I will probably get one.

The public liturgical prayer of the Church

According to the articles included in this book, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is called a short breviary, and is just as much the official public liturgical prayer of the Church as the Liturgy of the Hours.

The Baronius Press web site says this about the Little Office:

All Catholics are called to a consistent prayer life. For those who do not feel called to recite the Divine Office, but still wish to participate in the liturgical prayer of the Church, or for those who have a particular devotion to the holy Mother of God, there is no finer form of prayer than the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Here's a quote from this breviary on page 185:

The Little Office of our Lady is one of the liturgical prayers of the Church, and she imposes it on many of her children. For them it takes the place of that greater Office known as the Divine Office. Although the Little Office of Our Lady is considerably shorter than the ever-varying Office which the Clergy and Religious of both sexes in solemn vows have to say, yet, coming as it does from the same authority, it is as much a liturgical prayer as the Divine Office, and has the same claims to be considered as part of the public official worship which the mystical Spouse of Christ, the Church, daily offers to her Divine Head.

And here's part of a footnote on the same page:

In Ecclesiae Sanctae, August 6 1966, Pope Paul VI stated that "Although Religious who recite a duly approved Little Office perform the public prayer of the Church (cf. Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 98), it is nevertheless recommended to the institutes that in place of the Little Office they adopt the Divine Office either in part or in whole so that they may participate more intimately in the liturgical life of the Church".

So we are free to pray Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary and still have confidence that we are participating in the public liturgical prayer of the Church, even though Religious are encouraged (but not obligated) to pray the Divine Office instead.

One day cycle

I had tried this Little Office several years ago but soon gave it up because it only has prayers for a one-day cycle which are repeated every day. At the time I felt isolated as if the rest of the Church was marching forward with their four-week breviaries while I was merely marching in place with my one-day Little Office.

But now I see both the Divine Office and the Little Office as a way to touch heaven every day in union with the Universal Church, and variety is not necessary. I get my variety from reading a few chapters of Scripture in my Bible-in-a-year routine.

I'm sure there are many religious communities who continue to pray the Little Office, and I know that many individuals pray it, so I'm not so isolated after all.

How long it takes

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary supposedly takes less time to recite than the Divine Office. Well, that is true if you are comparing it with the old Divine Office which was quite lengthy as it covered the entire Psalter in one week.

But each hour of the Little Office takes about the same amount of time as the current Liturgy of the Hours which covers the Psalms over four weeks at a less demanding pace.

I have timed myself reciting the Little Office, and here is how long each hour lasted, approximately:

Which hours to pray

For lay people who don't have a lot of time for daily devotions or already have a devotional routine but still want to supplement that with the official prayer of the Church, I found this regarding the Divine Office on page 1166 of The Layman's Missal which was first published in 1961 by Burns & Oates :

Anyone can choose what he pleases for his personal prayers; for instance he could recite the parts of Lauds or Prime as his morning prayers, and Vespers or Compline as his night prayers.

If your schedule varies from day to day, you could choose the hours that are closest to the time you choose to pray. Here is a quick reference for which hours you might want to choose according to the time of day:

I imagine the combination of Prime and Compline will coincide with most people's daily devotional routine, and they only take about 6 minutes each.

If you find this chart useful, here is a black and white version that you can print out and glue into the cover of your Little Office.

I always use a re-stickable glue stick for this type of project just in case I change my mind later.

This PDF is in A4 size (210mm x 297mm), and should print fine on 8.5 x 11 inch letter size paper as well.

Focusing on the English

Are the English translations of these traditional Latin-English editions approved by the Church? For those who would like to recite the Office in English, this is a big issue.

I found this information on the website Catholic Harbor of Faith and Morals which talks about the indulgences granted to those who faithfully recite the Little Office:

The Indulgences attached to this Office are extended to the recitation of it in the vernacular only in case of private recitation.

Private recitation includes recitation by communities in their private chapels or even in their churches, if the doors are closed to the public.

Further down on the same web page it talks about praying the Little Office as one of the requirements to be entitled to the sabbatine privilege, and has this:

In the private recitation of the Office, one may use a vernacular language;
if the Office is chanted publicly, it must be in Latin.

Without going into the sabbatine privilege controversy, it is clear that even back when the Little Office was recited only in Latin publicly, the Church permitted its recitation in English in private.

Editions of the Little Office printed in both Latin and English existed at the time, and those English sections were apparently used openly for this purpose with the approval of the Church.

One such edition was produced by James Burns before 1860 and is the basis for the English text in the Baronius press edition, and another Edition was published by the Benziger Brothers in 1915 and is the basis for the Angelus Press edition.

Since I only pray the Little Office by myself and not in a community, I would love to see a Little Office published only in English, and without extra material such as articles and Gregorian chants.

Bottom Line

If you prefer the language of the Douay-Rheims Bible and would like a small and portable breviary, you ought to consider the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is also the breviary of choice for many who wear the Brown Scapular.

For those who are perfectly happy with modern English there is an edition of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is taken from the current Liturgy of the Hours, and has different contents which cover one week rather than one day. That edition of the Little Office is all in English and is apparently the most popular now, and it is approved by the Church.