A look at some "Shorter" Breviaries

Let's look at some of the abridged forms of the Liturgy of the Hours. These editions typically contain the "hours" Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer (a.k.a. Lauds, Vespers, and Compline).

There are several shorter editions out there, but I will focus on the three that I actually own and have used.

The Liturgy of the Hours (a.k.a. The Divine Office or the breviary) is the official liturgical prayer of the Church along with the Mass.

Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer are called the two hinges of The Liturgy of the Hours. They reflect the daily morning and evening offering in the tent of meeting and later in the temple in Jerusalem:

		Now this is what you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening; and with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a libation. And the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, and shall offer with it a cereal offering and its libation, as in the morning, for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD. It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. Exodus 29:38-42
Image taken from a 1849 illustration in public domain

This morning and evening offering was made by the priests every day. The Israelites could also pray at those times wherever they were, in union with those offerings.

The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. and the temple duties of the priests came to an end. Today the holy priesthood is comprised of all baptized believers. These "shorter" editions contain all you need to continue the morning and evening offering of worship, and the Lord will "meet with you" and "speak there to you."

I would not dismiss these shorter editions as only for beginners, or as merely an introduction to the Liturgy of the Hours which will help you eventually make the transition to the "real thing" as some have claimed. Nor are they "abbreviated" versions of the Liturgy of the Hours, as some have written, which seems to imply that they are lacking content and are therefore inferior to larger volumes.

I would call them "simpler but complete" editions that don't include as many options for special days such as solemnities, feasts and memorials. And it's those special days that really differentiate the shorter editions from the larger ones. Some shorter editions do have solemnities and some of the feasts. And these special days don't have as many options within them as the larger editions.

When I'm using a more complete edition of The Liturgy of the Hours, on some special days I have to flip back and forth between up to five different sections, sometimes for the sake of one sentence of text! I can't see the point. A lot of people prefer simplicity over variety, and an unchanging daily routine over the disruption caused by special days.

I wonder if such people are included in the following description?

[For] one person considers one day more important than another, while another person considers all days alike. Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind. Romans 14:5 (NABRE)

Regardless, I consider myself definitely in the "all days alike" camp, and prefer the simplicity of shorter editions of the breviary.

Bishops and priests are obligated to pray all seven hours of The Liturgy of the Hours, and deacons are obligated to pray certain Hours as assigned by their bishops, so the complete four-volume edition Liturgy of the Hours and one-volume edition Christian Prayer are what they need in order to fulfill their obligation. These editions seem to have been made with clergy in mind. But many Catholics who are in the "priesthood of the laity" simply use the shorter edition to make the morning and evening offering.

If you are not an ordained priest or deacon, then there is no need to pretend that you are by burdening yourself with the obligation to pray more hours each day unless you simply want to, and have the time. You can pray the Liturgy of the Hours in a form that was intended for you as a lay person.

The preface to Shorter Christian Prayer says it better than I can. Here are a few paragraphs from it:

The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the entire Church. The Liturgical Renewal of Vatican II has endeavored to make it accessible to all Catholics by a simplification of structure. The Church desires that wherever possible at least the celebration of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in public worship services should be encouraged.

The Liturgy of the Hours, distributed over various periods of each day, is intended to sanctify time and work. It is also a perfect means of putting into practice the word of Jesus "about the necessity of praying always without growing weary" (Luke 18:1). Contact with the riches of this liturgical prayer, which is pervaded by scripture, will give Christians authentic food, encourage them to do good, and unite them closer to the Church of God throughout the world.

This shorter edition of Christian Prayer (which is the one-volume edition of The Liturgy of the Hours) has been drawn up precisely for this purpose. It presents a selection of material for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in a format that is easier for the lay person to use than the complete Christian Prayer or the four-volume Liturgy of the Hours.

Two paragraphs down, it continues:

Thus, this Shorter Christian Prayer is ideal for parish use as well as private use. It may also be of help to clergy who are traveling or otherwise unable to utilize the complete edition of The Liturgy of the Hours.

I think the term "parish use" is key in this last paragraph. The publishers had public prayer in parishes in mind when they created this shorter edition. Parishes who actually celebrate public Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, are most likely to bulk-purchase the cheaper and more practical Shorter Christian Prayer for their shelves.

Church members who participate are most likely to purchase an identical copy for themselves to use at home (and hopefully not take a church copy home). So you can be assured that the text of your shorter edition matches exactly what is being prayed publicly everywhere, not to mention folks praying at home and traveling clergy.

Fr. Bill Kneemiller is an ordained priest who carries A Shorter Christian Prayer with him everywhere and encourages others to do the same. His articles Pray the liturgy of the hours! and Liturgy of the Hours is companion of the priest will give you a new appreciation for the shorter editions.

A small volume such as this will allow the lay person to respond to the challenge made by Pope Benedict XVI:

I would like to renew my call to everyone to pray the Psalms, to become accustomed to using the Liturgy of the Hours, Lauds, Vespers, and Compline.

These shorter editions enable all people to answer this call. Nothing has been omitted from the daily Morning and Evening Prayer routine; the amount of time you spend will be exactly the same as the larger editions, and on most days the words are also identical. The only difference is that you won't have to carry with you the extra material from other hours that you do not intend to use, which makes a volume heavy and bulky.

As Fr. Kneemiller points out in his articles, a smaller book is more likely to be actually read than a large one.

As far as I can tell, the contents of Shorter Christian Prayer and Shorter Morning and Evening Prayer are nearly identical although the arrangement and design of the material is different. As you can see in the photo above, Shorter Morning and Evening Prayer is printed in black ink and has no illustrations. Shorter Christian Prayer by Catholic Book Publishing has illustrations in red and black ink which were done in the 1970's and have a 70's feel.

Shorter Christian Prayer Catholic Book Publishing Company

Shorter Morning and Evening Prayer Liturgical Press

Christian Prayer Paulines Publications Africa

The green paperback Christian Prayer by Paulines Publications Africa has the four week Psalter for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer plus Night Prayer, but no options for special days. So it is the simplest of the three to use, and it's introduction page makes it clear that this edition still allows one to "pray in communion with the whole Church" and that it was intended for both personal and public prayer. It also has some nice touches that the others lack such as asterisks and daggers for those who chant, as well as accent marks which also aid in singing. The antiphons are repeated after the Psalms and canticles so you son't have to flip back to find them. It also has an updated version of the Grail Psalms. I have written more on this edition in my article A look at the African Breviary

If you prefer the aesthetics and durability of a nice black leather cover with sewn binding then you will love the black leather and gilded page edition of Shorter Christian Prayer. I bought this edition and love it; you can see it in the photo to the right (I gave my red copy to a friend).

I rely on public transportation, and this portable travel edition can go anywhere with me in my bag. Not only is it lighter and easier to handle than the larger editions, but the text is actually bigger -- and I love how it looks!

By the way, like the red cover edition, this comes with only one ribbon, yellow instead of red. Those extra ribbons in the photo were added by me soon after my copy arrived.

I have bought most of the editions of the Liturgy of the Hours including the four-volume sets from Kenya and America, but this beautiful leather and gold edge short edition is the one I keep coming back to. It fits me best. Fr. Kneemiller who actively promotes this particular edition has made another convert.

The shorter editions are still regarded as the official liturgical prayer of the Church. As a matter of fact, on most days during Ordinary Time the contents of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in the shorter editions are identical to the larger editions.

Of course, one disadvantage of these shorter breviaries is that they don't include all the Psalms of the four-week psalter; only the ones used in Morning, Evening and Night Prayer. Even the complete four-volume set of the Liturgy of the Hours does not include all the Psalms; it omits a few "revenge" Psalms, and many similar "difficult" verses from other Psalms. In other words, if your goal is to cover all 150 Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours, it ain't gonna happen, not even with the complete four-volume set.

On the same note, if you were hoping to read the entire Bible with the Liturgy of the Hours you will be disappointed, although you can cover a large part of the Bible if you use the two-year scripture lectionary for the Office of Readings. This lectionary can be found in the one-volume Christian Prayer as well as on my Useful Resources page.

Personally, I don't depend on the Liturgy of the Hours for my daily Bible consumption. Instead, I read the entire Bible including the Psalms from cover to cover on my own at least once a year. It's a habit I have had since I was young.

For me, the three hours found in the compact shorter breviaries, Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer and Night Prayer are a way to touch heaven with the rest of the Church, and that experience happens to include a few select Psalms and short Scripture readings. When I close my breviary, I open my Bible.

Note: As you may have heard, the The Liturgy of the Hours in the U.S. (and countries which use the U.S. version) are being revised, and new books will be published in probably just a few years. It will be called Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition. The Grail Psalms have also been revised and are now called the Abbey Psalms and Canticles. So most of these lovely books I curently use or have on my shelf will become obsolete. You ought to take this into account if you are considering investing in a new breviary. The UK editions of the Divine Office will not be affected by this revision, and neither will the African editions as far as I know. And of course, the underlying Latin text is not affected as well.

Perhaps the digital editions such as Divine Office or iBreviary are a safer bet right now for those who want to pray the U.S. English version but don't already own the books. I admit that these digital editions -- even though they contain all the Hours -- are even simpler to use than the "shorter" print editions. No ribbons and no need to page flip; everything is right there on one page. They even supply the missing parts of abbreviated phrases as well as the supply the second antiphon for Psalms and canticles.