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!!
3 comments:
Dear Aaron,
I am Father Pastor Mpora, the Vice Rector of Katigondo National Major Seminary. The Everyday Prayer is the oficial Breviary for our Seminarians. I am very happy that you have found it also very easy to use and also very nourishing. Unfortunately, in Uganda it is out of stock. Is it possible to inform me where I can order for it ? We need a lot of copies for the students. Fr. Pastor MPora
Hi Father Pastor Mpora,
My humblest apologies for not seeing your comment. I have not visited this website for a long time and only did a revisit today, 4 years later.
I hope you had manage to find the source for this invaluable breviary. Here in Malaysia, it is sold at almost every major Catholic bookstore at our the churches here, and orders are supplied by various respective dealers who run these stores.
perhaps you would like to contact the Daughters of St Paul who may be stationed in your country? They have a very large network of book supplies (you can check out the link that goes to Kampala, Uganda, closer to your home country): http://www.paulinesafrica.org/bookshops.html
This is really a late reply, but it helps!
Where can I buy 12 copies of this book abroad?
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