This breviary is a good resource for those who want to balance between the Office and busy work schedule at the office (note that "Office" is prayer with capital "O", "office" all in lowercase is work). Honestly, you can't possibly be praying and at the same time having the worry of something pending in the office, or if you have to bring that darn work home to settle it before you go off to bed and rise early for work again.
Everyday Prayer or "EP" is a nice bland between selected major offices so you won't miss out the Hinge hours and at the same time tend to your work. The English translation as I've mentioned is great to pray with; which makes it easy going and "excites the mind to contemplation".
So what do we have in the EP? Here it is:
1. Morning Prayer (Lauds)
2. Evening Prayer (Vespers)
3. Night Prayer (Compline)
4. 4 week psalter - Prayer During the Day (Midday Hours)
5. 4 week psalter - Office of Readings (minus the actual text readings, just the psalms)
6. Office of the Dead
7. Selection of the Seasonal hymns (Proper of the Seasons, Holy Week)
The complete ones are #1, #2, & #3. #7 - Morning & Evening Prayer only, Night prayer taken from Sunday II prayers. The rest are all selections only.
EP has cleverly combined the 3 Little Hours into 1 single Midday hour known as Prayer During the Day. Similar to how Anglicans did the same thing and called it Noon Prayer in their Book of Common Prayer.
Roughly in dimensions: 5 inches ++ on width, 7 inches ++ length, depth: 2 inches ++. Not very heavy, but suitably light for those to carry around for travel and good for selected Hourly prayer.
There's also sections for the Commons to honour feasts, memorias and optional memorials. Simple for the beginner, and easy to use for the intermediate, I look forward to graduate to the full 3-volume Divine Office when I have the money. One thing about religious books coming from UK - conversion rate is always the killer and from UK to Malaysia would mean RM500 ++ should I go through normal means.
To get it cheaper, I'll have to get from the Catholic bookstore in churches that sell it at a subsidised rate of RM360.00 (courtesy from the Archdiocese). Even that is not hardover, its just the plastic PVC ;o(
Monday, 22 October 2007
Monday, 15 October 2007
Everyday Prayer
Here's what it looks like for the Everyday Prayer that I'm using (the picture inset is the Divine Office actually, I don't have a picture of the actual Everyday prayer, but it looks very similar, except it has only 2 ribbons.)
Most affordable among the family of our local Malaysian breviaries in the market for those who want to explore the Divine Office - it makes a good start and introduction to a prayer as old as the Church itself.
For starters, it has all the instructions laid out and as with all breviaries, begins with season of Advent. It comes with prayer cards of the Benedictus and the Magnificat, the structure for Morning Prayer (Lauds) and Evening Prayer (Vespers) plus it comes with additional prayer cards of the psalms from Sunday Psalter 1 which is a good recourse for feast days where Sunday Psalter 1 is used to replace the current psalter when a feast falls in place.
This I find extremely useful as a means to reduce page flipping. Now, isn't this a great idea to implement in traditional breviaries? Prayer cards rock!
Antiphons are all repeated after every psalm. In the intercessory prayer section, if the section overlaps to another page, responsorial prayer for the invocation is printed repeatedly on a new page to make even easier referral and reduces page flipping again.
And of course, there is no doubt the translation of the office is taken from the British based Divine Office, meaning collects and scriptural passages as taken from the Jerusalem bible, Revised Standard Version and wordings as approved by the Episcopal Conference in the UK. Rich, beautifully rendered, excites the imagination of the mind and the sings poetry to the soul.
After intermittent use between the American Christian Prayer with the British Everyday Prayer, I've favoured much of the Everyday Prayer translation. Now, this edition is said to be the simplification of the Daily Prayer translation, which is actually the abbreviated breviary of the complete Divine Office.
Everyday Prayer is what many booksellers would call "an international edition published to meet the needs of the local Asian market and priced it more competitively for demand". This edition that I own is published by Theological Publications in India; printed at Rekha Printers Private Ltd, New Delhi, India in collaboration with Collins E.J. Dwyer Talbot. (ISBN 0059958804) given its imprimatur Concordat cum originali by M. Arokiasamy, Bishop of Kottar & Chairman for the Episcopal Commission for the Liturgy, Catholic Bishops Conference of India, 1977.
Here's a summary of what I can see from the Everyday Prayer: Pros
1. very easy to use - good for beginners or introductory to the use of the breviary and Divine Office
2. Antiphons are repeated after every psalm
this is true again for the whole bulk of antiphons that changes with each season - Advent, Lent, Paschaltide, Holy Week. The whole chunk is printed repeatedly demarkated with a line.
3. Response for the Intercessions are repeated if the section overlaps into a new page
4. Significant reduction of page flipping
5. Sufficient for the busy men/women as it only contains Morning Prayer (Lauds), Evening Prayer (Vespers) & Night Prayer (Compline)
6. Contains selections for Office of Readings (modern Matins & Vigils) and full Office of the Dead. well, Office of the Dead is already a short addition to the whole breviary so, it naturally is in full office for Lauds and Vespers. No midday prayers though.
7. An appendix that adds variety for Intercessions for Vespers.
8. A selection for alternate hymns for Office use including the different liturgical seasons of the year.
9. Invitatory Antiphons for the beginning of the Office is grouped into 1 page for easy referral.
10. As with all modern offices, well, its brevity makes it easier for reflection, meditation and at the same not sacificing too much time. You can make a quick recitation of it and you're done under 15 minutes.
11. Its cheap! in Malaysia, it is only priced at RM20 in KL (USD 5.92) and in some places up to RM25 (USD 7.40) However, you can only get editions like these in South East Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, India) and it's not so widely available like its cousin the Daily Prayer which I believe is the same thing - just that it has a better binding and hardcover.
12. Only has 2 bookmarks red and blue, denoting that its easy use need not lots of ribbons for marking.
** by the way, a complete original Divine Office which is 3 volumes in Malaysia even after the Archdiocese has subsidised the cost for sale, is still priced at RM360.00 (USD 106.45)
As with the differences between modern and traditional offices, I need not explain about it as the internet has lots more resource and research out there making it sufficient study of the matter. In this blog, I will not attempt to trivialise the modern for the "venerable" ancient as both are equal and I'm sure simplifying the Office has its benefits too.
As much of the pros of using it, for the pious, devout and traditionally inclined, you may find the following Cons:
1. Too short, no midday Office (Terce or Midmorning, Sext or Midday, None or Midafternoon)
2. Hymn selection isn't much.
3. Very little use of Latin (exception is given for the final Antiphon to the Blessed Virgin where the 4 different hymns to Our Lady are printed in both English followed by Latin.)
4. Contemporary translation, thus dropping all the "majestic", "sombre" & "reverent" traditional English translations so synonymous with Douay-Rheims or the King James Version.
5. Its all BLACK AND WHITE! A little colour would be great.
6. No Illustrations.
7. No Office of Readings (Matins)
8. Eventhough the binding is sewn, its cardboard like ends are glued to the plastic PVC cover, making it easy for wear and tear and short usage lifespan. ** However, the pages are still intact, so it is still strong though cover is a little curled.
Of course, speed is not essential and the faster you say it, the more insignificant it sounds to the point you lose all purpose of the original intention. Remember, Vatican II sought out to reduce abuses of the Office too and past accounts have made the Divine Office a real chore for people expecially priests and it became more of a relic, than an office with meaning.
Partly the reason I think why people simply recite it is to deal with the obligation of reciting it in the first place. But now that it is significantly short, by right there should be no abuse and people being more receptive towards it. Well, as you can see, the Church has made it easier and still, people are ignorant of "breviary", "divine office", "liturgy of the hours".
Having said that, Vatican II has also I believe become "over-enthusiastic" and swept everything beautiful and traditional, for the absolutely banal, bland, & boring, at times trying its best to spice it up with contemporary music, making it instead sound wrong and awkward.
I can only imagine had Vatican II been more conservative about its reforms, the liturgy, the Office and just about anything else that is Catholic; it would have been like where Anglo-Catholics are right now - the traditional Tridentine disciplines plus old English (for the universality of a vernacular); the Sarum use still largely in force today and perhaps no strange innovations that make us jump rather than pray.
Oh well, this is what being human is about eh? Lets propagate the use of the traditional office and save the world from further simplification to the point people are no longer sincere in praying and want unreasonable quick results. Tenete Traditiones!!
Thursday, 11 October 2007
Breviaries, breviaries & MORE breviaries...
My attention now focused on traditional breviaries that was in vogue before Vatican II. Several options were available for me and among them were:
1. Romanum Breviarum (Roman Breviary) 3-4 volumes
2. Officium Divinum (Angelus Press) * condensed version of the tridentine breviary
3. Monastic Diurnal (St Michael's)
4. Monastic Diurnal (St Andrews Press)
5. Anglican Breviary (Frank Gavin liturgical press; reprinted by Daniel Lula)
From all the 5, I have ordered and received #2 Officium Divinum, and ordered #5 Anglican Breviary. #1 was actually my ideal choice and it is the complete compilation of the Roman office. Most expensive due to the number of copies in a complete volume and it being priced high for each (cost a bomb all together!) News has gone out that Baronius Press is coming out with a republished edition by late 2007 or 2008.
After much consideration, I reckon the Roman Breviary would be too expensive unfortunately, as my finances cou'ldn't cope with the possible exorbitant pricing after considering overseas shipping and exchange rates. KIV-ed it for future purchase to make a great additional collection to my devotional books.
Next, I did an online comparison between the Diurnals which had no Matins, some price comparison, and the usability of each edition. Ok, perhaps the diurnals were abit pricey as well, St Michaels edition of the Diurnal had an extra Latin translation over St Andrews edition (Anglican edition) The other downside of it was though it is really really traditional form pre-dating that of the Roman Breviary, the little hours and Compline is the same for the whole week. I much prefer some variety especially for Compline as it is "my most creative hour" and I'm usually free from work at that time.
So, I decided to get the Officium Divinum first as it was a practical choice; its useful for travel as it is short, only contains Sunday Lauds, Prime, Sext, Vespers & Compline and the rest of the week's Prime, Sext & Compline plus it was a beautiful edition which I believe was printed by one of SSPX's publishing house Angelus Press. Text and format is black and red throughout, and as it was a special abbreviated version for the use of the laity (a breviary ironically speaking, is already an abbreviated edition of the many volumes of the actual ancient Divine Office at the time of the Lateran Council) Nice familiar graphics too to go with the text taken from St Andrews missal.
And finally my most reasonable choice - was the Anglican Breviary of course. A Faithful translation from the Roman Breviary of 1955, some aspects I discovered online when they argued on the Anglican nature of this somewhat "Romish" breviary (hate that word):
1. The psalter (as a backbone of the breviary) is from the famous Coverdale psalter
2. The collects mirror those from the Book of Common Prayer 1928
3. Apparently the Hour of Matins is slightly different
4. Antiphons are native towards those from Anglican sources
5. The hour for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is slightly muted compared to the Roman breviary.
6. Naming convention for Sundays after Pentecost is: Sunday after TRINITY.
7. Scripture excerpts are taken from the King James Bible.
From there, what made the Anglican breviary romish to some but reasonably allowable for Catholics:
1. Translation and format pattern exactly the Roman Breviary of 1955 using old Elizabethan English.
2. Contains feast observances and prayers as set forth exactly in the Catholic Church Kalendar (some not found even in the Anglican calendar) as of 1955.
3. Page flipping and compexity of the rubrics found here are unusual in the context of the BCP but native to the characteristics of the RB.
4. Books that normally are not in the Protestant canon: Esdras, additional material from Esther, Judith, Tobit - are found in the AB as translated from the King James version.
Above all, even though the pros is not as much as the cons, I believe meditation wise I'm stronger in English than in Latin, so I prefer the English use. Latin becomes an accidental novelty if just recited without meaning; especially if its those that consist of long scriptural text. (versicles & antiphons are different if in Latin as they are normally short and easy to remember) I feel it is important for us to get some form of meaning whenever we recite the Office, or else we end up praying like robots without putting our heart and soul into it. Sincerity is important.
Also, the main purpose of reciting the Office would be lost - thats why I feel that the Divine Office should never be a rushed job. If one is unable to say the long version, say the short ones instead and you're most likely to appreciate the "quality of prayer" rather than its quantity by trying to run a whole marathon in order to finish all the hours.
* of course, this does not discount us at times whenever we're free - don't take the easy way out! after all, it is an opus dei - work of God and labour brings much fruit and grace with sincerity
I'll continue the next part of my discussion in my new posting. Time for bed... & Good night!
1. Romanum Breviarum (Roman Breviary) 3-4 volumes
2. Officium Divinum (Angelus Press) * condensed version of the tridentine breviary
3. Monastic Diurnal (St Michael's)
4. Monastic Diurnal (St Andrews Press)
5. Anglican Breviary (Frank Gavin liturgical press; reprinted by Daniel Lula)
From all the 5, I have ordered and received #2 Officium Divinum, and ordered #5 Anglican Breviary. #1 was actually my ideal choice and it is the complete compilation of the Roman office. Most expensive due to the number of copies in a complete volume and it being priced high for each (cost a bomb all together!) News has gone out that Baronius Press is coming out with a republished edition by late 2007 or 2008.
After much consideration, I reckon the Roman Breviary would be too expensive unfortunately, as my finances cou'ldn't cope with the possible exorbitant pricing after considering overseas shipping and exchange rates. KIV-ed it for future purchase to make a great additional collection to my devotional books.
Next, I did an online comparison between the Diurnals which had no Matins, some price comparison, and the usability of each edition. Ok, perhaps the diurnals were abit pricey as well, St Michaels edition of the Diurnal had an extra Latin translation over St Andrews edition (Anglican edition) The other downside of it was though it is really really traditional form pre-dating that of the Roman Breviary, the little hours and Compline is the same for the whole week. I much prefer some variety especially for Compline as it is "my most creative hour" and I'm usually free from work at that time.
So, I decided to get the Officium Divinum first as it was a practical choice; its useful for travel as it is short, only contains Sunday Lauds, Prime, Sext, Vespers & Compline and the rest of the week's Prime, Sext & Compline plus it was a beautiful edition which I believe was printed by one of SSPX's publishing house Angelus Press. Text and format is black and red throughout, and as it was a special abbreviated version for the use of the laity (a breviary ironically speaking, is already an abbreviated edition of the many volumes of the actual ancient Divine Office at the time of the Lateran Council) Nice familiar graphics too to go with the text taken from St Andrews missal.
And finally my most reasonable choice - was the Anglican Breviary of course. A Faithful translation from the Roman Breviary of 1955, some aspects I discovered online when they argued on the Anglican nature of this somewhat "Romish" breviary (hate that word):
1. The psalter (as a backbone of the breviary) is from the famous Coverdale psalter
2. The collects mirror those from the Book of Common Prayer 1928
3. Apparently the Hour of Matins is slightly different
4. Antiphons are native towards those from Anglican sources
5. The hour for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is slightly muted compared to the Roman breviary.
6. Naming convention for Sundays after Pentecost is: Sunday after TRINITY.
7. Scripture excerpts are taken from the King James Bible.
From there, what made the Anglican breviary romish to some but reasonably allowable for Catholics:
1. Translation and format pattern exactly the Roman Breviary of 1955 using old Elizabethan English.
2. Contains feast observances and prayers as set forth exactly in the Catholic Church Kalendar (some not found even in the Anglican calendar) as of 1955.
3. Page flipping and compexity of the rubrics found here are unusual in the context of the BCP but native to the characteristics of the RB.
4. Books that normally are not in the Protestant canon: Esdras, additional material from Esther, Judith, Tobit - are found in the AB as translated from the King James version.
Above all, even though the pros is not as much as the cons, I believe meditation wise I'm stronger in English than in Latin, so I prefer the English use. Latin becomes an accidental novelty if just recited without meaning; especially if its those that consist of long scriptural text. (versicles & antiphons are different if in Latin as they are normally short and easy to remember) I feel it is important for us to get some form of meaning whenever we recite the Office, or else we end up praying like robots without putting our heart and soul into it. Sincerity is important.
Also, the main purpose of reciting the Office would be lost - thats why I feel that the Divine Office should never be a rushed job. If one is unable to say the long version, say the short ones instead and you're most likely to appreciate the "quality of prayer" rather than its quantity by trying to run a whole marathon in order to finish all the hours.
* of course, this does not discount us at times whenever we're free - don't take the easy way out! after all, it is an opus dei - work of God and labour brings much fruit and grace with sincerity
I'll continue the next part of my discussion in my new posting. Time for bed... & Good night!
How It All Started (LOTH & DO)
I use a wide variety of books to supplement my daily rhythm of prayer I've established for myself over these course of few years. As a child right up to my teens, any born Catholic would have to learn to say the basics "Our Father", "Hail Mary", "Glory Be". Then came recitation of the Rosary.
There were the colourful prayer booklets on prayers to Our Lady, Our Lord Jesus and to the Saints. Such was the seeds that were sown with text books I used during my primary-secondary years at Catechism class. (or more fondly known as Sunday School).
It was sometime during my college days when I went online, joined Catholic forums and stuff - I read alot about what people were doing "the Hours", "Divine Office", "LOTH", "DO", "Breviary". Imagine discovering, learning and nurturing a fascination for a form of devotion online! Pictures upon pictures of people doing the LOTH and DO everywhere. Well, a clear and successful testament to calls from our former Pope John Paul II pushing for evangelisation on the Internet and bringing the message of Christ further on the WWW.
One thing led to another and the next minute - I got myself a used copy of Christian Prayer (CP) abbreviated version of the Liturgy of the Hours; LOTH by Catholic Book Publishing (CBP) from a second-hand bookstore. Very nice black and red print throughout and had nice illustrations bringing to life the prayers inside and capturing the mood for silent contemplation during the recitation.
Then, my eyes caught site of another abbreviated edition of the LOTH by Daughters of St Paul (DoSP). This edition is by far what many traditionalists would call it the modern Diurnal without Matins (except that there is really no Office of Readings which is supposed to be a fusion of Matins & Vigils) This alternate edition of LOTH is more complete than CBP edition having no dual colour scheme employed by CBP. DoSP is more thorough in covering hours with Midmorning, Midday & Midafternoon; otherwise known as Little Hours with Terce, Sext & None as its tridentine names.
Humans being humans - there were forums and reviews comparing and pitting LOTH against another variant of the Hours known as the Divine Office (DO) This alternate translation is mainly for nations under the Commonwealth, UK, Ireland, and a few pacific islands formerly under British rule. Through the episcopal conferences of UK, British Isles, India, South East Asia; the nations half of the otherside of this planet subscribe to the British translation.
By far, I think only some countries like the Philipines and India were given special approval for both DO & LOTH to be publically recited.
Anyhow, that's when I decided to contact my local Catholic bookstore (managed by Daughter's of St Paul) and got hold of a copy of an abbreviated edition of the DO otherwise known as "Everyday Prayer" (EP) from one of the nuns when they had a book sale outside my neighbourhood's chapel.
*by now you would have noticed I seem to be collecting only abbreviated breviaries, not "complete editions". Well, due to financial constraints, I can only afford these ;o(
Anyway, when I started reading & reciting the DO, I generally liked it better (my apologies to those of you who love the LOTH) the wordings were much nicer and richer and there were many reviews saying the same thing about the British edition. Well, all the more for me to use it now! I have eversince referred to it as my main source of devotion till recently.
The EP is like the DoSP edition of CP; all is black and white. But the difference between the EP and the DoSP edition of the LOTH is that the DoSP edition has beautiful illustrations, and though there isn't any dual colour scheme like the CBP edition, fonts used are varied in the form of bolded or italicised fonts of different kinds - still making it more approachable in terms of format and outlook of the typeface.
The EP unfortunately has none of those - only simple black & white text. However, what makes me love EP so much is that the antiphons are repeated after every psalm appointed, and of course the translation or the wordings are from British sources and scripture excerpts come from the Jerusalem Bible (that's one of my favourite Catholic Bibles). Great translation for those who have not had a good grasp of Latin and it minimises page flipping.
Here, American translations for the collects tend to be noticibly bland be it in the LOTH or CP as attested by many people online. It is uninspiring at best.
Another shortcome about the EP is that it has only Morning (Lauds), Evening (Vespers) and Night (Compline) prayer. Additional materials offered are 1 excerpt for the Little Hours and 1 excerpt of the Office of Readings, plus office of the Dead, alternative psalms & collects to be used in the Commons section under the Sanctoral cycle, and in the midday hours.
I have mentioned earlier that I have grown to love all things that is pre-concilliar especially in liturgical disciplines. Well, all breviaries mentioned so far are fully English, and translations are mainly contemporary. This is where I find it is still lacking for the dual language option of Latin/English so prevalent in pre-concilliar breviaries and prayer books, and the traditional English translations from Latin as opposed to contemporary ones. I hungered for more options and so my search continued...
There were the colourful prayer booklets on prayers to Our Lady, Our Lord Jesus and to the Saints. Such was the seeds that were sown with text books I used during my primary-secondary years at Catechism class. (or more fondly known as Sunday School).
It was sometime during my college days when I went online, joined Catholic forums and stuff - I read alot about what people were doing "the Hours", "Divine Office", "LOTH", "DO", "Breviary". Imagine discovering, learning and nurturing a fascination for a form of devotion online! Pictures upon pictures of people doing the LOTH and DO everywhere. Well, a clear and successful testament to calls from our former Pope John Paul II pushing for evangelisation on the Internet and bringing the message of Christ further on the WWW.
One thing led to another and the next minute - I got myself a used copy of Christian Prayer (CP) abbreviated version of the Liturgy of the Hours; LOTH by Catholic Book Publishing (CBP) from a second-hand bookstore. Very nice black and red print throughout and had nice illustrations bringing to life the prayers inside and capturing the mood for silent contemplation during the recitation.
Then, my eyes caught site of another abbreviated edition of the LOTH by Daughters of St Paul (DoSP). This edition is by far what many traditionalists would call it the modern Diurnal without Matins (except that there is really no Office of Readings which is supposed to be a fusion of Matins & Vigils) This alternate edition of LOTH is more complete than CBP edition having no dual colour scheme employed by CBP. DoSP is more thorough in covering hours with Midmorning, Midday & Midafternoon; otherwise known as Little Hours with Terce, Sext & None as its tridentine names.
Humans being humans - there were forums and reviews comparing and pitting LOTH against another variant of the Hours known as the Divine Office (DO) This alternate translation is mainly for nations under the Commonwealth, UK, Ireland, and a few pacific islands formerly under British rule. Through the episcopal conferences of UK, British Isles, India, South East Asia; the nations half of the otherside of this planet subscribe to the British translation.
By far, I think only some countries like the Philipines and India were given special approval for both DO & LOTH to be publically recited.
Anyhow, that's when I decided to contact my local Catholic bookstore (managed by Daughter's of St Paul) and got hold of a copy of an abbreviated edition of the DO otherwise known as "Everyday Prayer" (EP) from one of the nuns when they had a book sale outside my neighbourhood's chapel.
*by now you would have noticed I seem to be collecting only abbreviated breviaries, not "complete editions". Well, due to financial constraints, I can only afford these ;o(
Anyway, when I started reading & reciting the DO, I generally liked it better (my apologies to those of you who love the LOTH) the wordings were much nicer and richer and there were many reviews saying the same thing about the British edition. Well, all the more for me to use it now! I have eversince referred to it as my main source of devotion till recently.
The EP is like the DoSP edition of CP; all is black and white. But the difference between the EP and the DoSP edition of the LOTH is that the DoSP edition has beautiful illustrations, and though there isn't any dual colour scheme like the CBP edition, fonts used are varied in the form of bolded or italicised fonts of different kinds - still making it more approachable in terms of format and outlook of the typeface.
The EP unfortunately has none of those - only simple black & white text. However, what makes me love EP so much is that the antiphons are repeated after every psalm appointed, and of course the translation or the wordings are from British sources and scripture excerpts come from the Jerusalem Bible (that's one of my favourite Catholic Bibles). Great translation for those who have not had a good grasp of Latin and it minimises page flipping.
Here, American translations for the collects tend to be noticibly bland be it in the LOTH or CP as attested by many people online. It is uninspiring at best.
Another shortcome about the EP is that it has only Morning (Lauds), Evening (Vespers) and Night (Compline) prayer. Additional materials offered are 1 excerpt for the Little Hours and 1 excerpt of the Office of Readings, plus office of the Dead, alternative psalms & collects to be used in the Commons section under the Sanctoral cycle, and in the midday hours.
I have mentioned earlier that I have grown to love all things that is pre-concilliar especially in liturgical disciplines. Well, all breviaries mentioned so far are fully English, and translations are mainly contemporary. This is where I find it is still lacking for the dual language option of Latin/English so prevalent in pre-concilliar breviaries and prayer books, and the traditional English translations from Latin as opposed to contemporary ones. I hungered for more options and so my search continued...
Introduction to the things that are anglo but wishing to remain Roman Catholic...
Hi folks!
My domain is now online! New postings to be made for our resident Catholic Anglo ;o) You might be wondering: "hey, is this guy Anglican or something?" No, that's why I mentioned "Catholic Anglo" not "Anglo-Catholic".
"Catholic Anglo" is my term to denote my preference - I am a professed Roman Catholic, who is a moderate in the world, but of the traditional persuasion (emphasis on the lowercase "t" for tradition), loves translations and readings influenced by our British counterparts. Note that I am an Asian living in South East Asia, in a nation which once had colonial ties - Am a little of an Anglophile myself but trying to stay true to my own Asian roots.
Having said that, I do not close my mind out of things Anglican too, since (due to the unfortunate circumstance in history) it is where the wealth of religious British translated & inspired literature are from; those that are of Catholic leanings of course.
My interest is in the breviary which is like my staple diet whenever I have the time to say it. I'm using the "Everyday Prayer" - the abbreviated form of the British breviary "Daily Prayer" and is also the official British variant from the well known American "Liturgy of the Hours".
In recent years, I have fallen in love with old liturgical practices such as the Tridentine Mass, the Breviarum Romanum and devotions that are basically pre-Vatican II.
In future postings, I'll discuss more on stuff that is related to Latin/Roman use (well, its obvious isn't it?) and how I have come to love something which not many Catholics know about or do not normally use - the Anglican Breviary (AB). Plus since this is my personal site, it'll include my own life ruminations and work as well.
Before I end this post, you might be wondering; "why would a Catholic be using an Anglican Breviary?" In future posts, I'll enlighten my online readers with insights about this amazing breviary, and how lay Catholics should deal with issues that sometimes make us focus on unnecessary scrupulosity or "absolute obedience to authority" to the point where it is not reasonable, considering the fact that we're (as lay Roman Catholics) are not bound under any Holy Rule or canons unless we're already enrolled in one!
Ok. Maybe I'm not making much sense here but when I begin discussing about the AB, you'll know what I mean.
Right - feeling a little sleepy now and have a very important engagement to attend tomorrow morning, so till my next post...
Bye for now!
My domain is now online! New postings to be made for our resident Catholic Anglo ;o) You might be wondering: "hey, is this guy Anglican or something?" No, that's why I mentioned "Catholic Anglo" not "Anglo-Catholic".
"Catholic Anglo" is my term to denote my preference - I am a professed Roman Catholic, who is a moderate in the world, but of the traditional persuasion (emphasis on the lowercase "t" for tradition), loves translations and readings influenced by our British counterparts. Note that I am an Asian living in South East Asia, in a nation which once had colonial ties - Am a little of an Anglophile myself but trying to stay true to my own Asian roots.
Having said that, I do not close my mind out of things Anglican too, since (due to the unfortunate circumstance in history) it is where the wealth of religious British translated & inspired literature are from; those that are of Catholic leanings of course.
My interest is in the breviary which is like my staple diet whenever I have the time to say it. I'm using the "Everyday Prayer" - the abbreviated form of the British breviary "Daily Prayer" and is also the official British variant from the well known American "Liturgy of the Hours".
In recent years, I have fallen in love with old liturgical practices such as the Tridentine Mass, the Breviarum Romanum and devotions that are basically pre-Vatican II.
In future postings, I'll discuss more on stuff that is related to Latin/Roman use (well, its obvious isn't it?) and how I have come to love something which not many Catholics know about or do not normally use - the Anglican Breviary (AB). Plus since this is my personal site, it'll include my own life ruminations and work as well.
Before I end this post, you might be wondering; "why would a Catholic be using an Anglican Breviary?" In future posts, I'll enlighten my online readers with insights about this amazing breviary, and how lay Catholics should deal with issues that sometimes make us focus on unnecessary scrupulosity or "absolute obedience to authority" to the point where it is not reasonable, considering the fact that we're (as lay Roman Catholics) are not bound under any Holy Rule or canons unless we're already enrolled in one!
Ok. Maybe I'm not making much sense here but when I begin discussing about the AB, you'll know what I mean.
Right - feeling a little sleepy now and have a very important engagement to attend tomorrow morning, so till my next post...
Bye for now!
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