Monastic Diurnal Review

[@othersv9758]

I use the Divine Office ( US Style and OZ Style ) But I miss the Latine prayers, Hence I ordered a Monastic Diurnal from Clear Creek Abbey. I read my Office every Day because I'm a Franciscan in the 3rd Order. But 82 Years Old so my Life is in my prayers most of the day.

[@TheAmericanPilgrim]

I personally use the edition published by Lancelot Andrewes Press. Matins and Vespers I use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer I personally love it as it's in line with the BCP with the seasonal collects. I do also use the Anglican Office Book as well

[@jlouis4407]

I have the seventh edition like this one and absolutely love it, total quality.

[@RyanPenza]

As I have visited the Benedictine Monks in Nursia, Italy and in Silverstream, Ireland, for over a year I have been praying the LotH using this Monastic Diurnal and for Matins I use the book from Clear Creek Abbey.

[@jonfrancis3630]

I use the Collins Divine Office (Roman Rite) for use in England and Wales. Approved for use in many other countries. Too many to list here. As I live in the UK. I have this very Diurnal and it’s a beautiful compact book. I use it sometimes but mainly the Roman Rite Collins version. The beautiful thing about this diurnal is the Latin. Great review 👍

[@danielacheson2744]

Appreciate the review. Considering buying one of these so this helped a lot.

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

Thanks, glad to hear it helped!

[@tonethetallbaldy5039]

The 8th edition is thinner due to much thinner pages and cones with the Abbey stamp on the cover and protective box cover.

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

I did see they had a new edition! Figures just as I put out a review they change it but oh well. I dont know how I'd like the thinner paper, I guess I'm probably use to it and I think the larger page size would also help - plus a box cover sounds fancy too.

[@lukemayer9359]

Thank you so much for this review.

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

Thanks! You're very welcome

[@chainlobster7479]

Thanks for the review .I ordered one after seeing this and it just arrived 2 days ago.Mine is 2020 edition. Thinner book as the pages are thin. Fantastic..I love it!

[@helenat7468]

Does it come with Magnificat card as well?

[@chainlobster7479]

@@helenat7468 Mine did not although I was expecting one.

[@victorsalas8452]

Do you still play with that cat during liturgy?

[@auksmann]

Thank you for this very well done review!

[@robcimarolli4510]

Is there a guide for using this like there is for the 4 volume? Would this be difficult to figure out how to use for a lay person?

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

Yes there is! I completely forgot about it in the review I'm so sorry! If you order a new copy it will come with a double sided instruction card detailing the make up of the hours on what changes on ferial or more solemn days. I scanned a copy you can see here imgur.com/gallery/TbWQKIt and updated the description to include this as well. Thank you for bring this to my attention.

[@impasse0124]

Thanks for the review! I’m between the Monastic Diurnal and the Antiphonale Monasticum. I’m leaning toward the latter because it has Gregorian notation and I really want to chant the offices. The only downside is that I don’t think it has an English translation in addition to the Latin. I want to chant the office in Latin but I like seeing the translation as well. I also only plan to pray the major hours of Lauds, Vespers, and Compline so the Diurnal would have a lot of extra content that I don’t need. Not sure which hours are in the Antiphonale though. If you know anything about it, I’d love to hear about it!

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

I haven't looked in depth at the Antiphonale Monasticum but from what I've checked briefly at www.ccwatershed.org/2013/12/4/1934-antiphonale-monasticum-free-pdf-download/ it seems the book contains the "day hours" which would mean everything except Matins.

[@Deerm3at]

Could you do a video explaining how to pray the Monastic Diurnal. I just got mine in yesterday, but am completely lost. Thanks and God bless!

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

If you're looking for a way to get started there is a website which publishes a weekly ordo telling you what page numbers to use. saintsshallarise.blogspot.com There is also a "learn to say the office" section on the site which I used. I find reading the instructions like this to be a little more helpful than stopping and starting a video. Once you get the rhythm of the weekly cycle down it gets a lot easier.

[@samueljones5421]

I think I shall pick this one up for sure. Question though, i converted to Catholicism 3 years ago, I haven't learned latin but would you suggest I start or just continue in English?

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

I enjoy learning languages and especially for the Roman Rite Catholics, latin was used for a huge part of our history so I like latin. But, if you're not interested in latin then don't worry since most things you can get in english. Also, even if you mainly pray the office in english you might be surprised at how easy it can be to pick up the repeated phrases said at the beginning and end of each hour in latin. In the end, though, it's up to you.

[@ANIND123]

Latin rite Catholics should know at least elementry latin

[@jlouis4407]

@@ANIND123 Yeah ecclesiastical latin in the vulgate bible is a lot easier to learn that classical latin it seems, because most of our english words are taken directly from the latin like sanctification, justification, etc.

[@duromusabc]

Can you do a review of Monastic Matins by Clear Creek Abbey? Thanks

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

If I get around to getting a copy then I guess I could. I'm currently in a non-booking buying period though... If you would like more information about the matins book from Clear Creek there is a helpful online review here learnbenoffice3.blogspot.com/2017/04/book-reviews-matins-only-psalters.html

[@tusolusdominus]

Hi, I heard you said the English was not approved but wouldn’t all of the book be approved by authorities thus making it liturgical?

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

There are 3 things we might see at the beginning of an ecclesiastical work. There is a difference between the "nihil obstat" granted when no errors prevent the book from being published, the "imprimi potest" which is granted by a religious superior for a work written by one in the religious community, and the "imprimatur" which is when the bishop of the place gives permission for it to be printed. Yet all of these don't necessarily include the approval of vernacular translations of liturigcal texts. Since the Divine Office is a liturgical prayer, any cleric who is bound to pray the Divine Office would need to either use the original latin text, or an approved vernacular translation such as those prepared by ICEL or some other group. A similar example would be the 1962 latin-english hand missals used by many people. While these have an english translation of the missal texts, it was mean for an individual's own enrichment and not for official use

[@tusolusdominus]

@@StatCruxVolviturOrbis oh this makes sense, thank you for this detailed explanation Deacon!

[@silentium9639]

With the liturgy of the hours, you miss out on three psalms. It misses the point of it

[@khaalis9385]

A question please as a new subscriber. I first saw the Diurnal in a documentary on KZbin last week being used in a Convent. I even backed the scene up to catch the name on the binding. The reason why it stood out to me was the fact that I have recently purchased the book, "Benedictine Daily Prayer (BDP): A Short Breviary" and I thought this was the gold standard for monastics. But obviously I am mistaken. I know that this might seem overly simplistic to you, but can you tell me the difference between the two? And more importantly, in your opinion, which would be your preference? I have grown from Christian Prayer -- to praying the LOH in the four volumes -- now to the BDP book. At first glance, the Diurnal does not seem very user friendly.....

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

I wasn't able to find out much about Benedictine Daily Prayer online, but from what I gathered I believe what follows are the main differences. It seems BDP has more use among non-Catholic Benedictines, but I could be mistaken on that point. 1.) Benedictine Daily Prayer (BDP) contain the office of matins (or vigils) for the whole year while the Diurnal does not. 2.) The Diurnal uses the one week psalm layout from Benedict's rule while BDP uses a modified version with psalms spread out over a couple weeks. 3.) The Diurnal is also bilingual Latin/English while BDP is only English 4.) If you're used to Christian Prayer and the 4 volume LOH, then BDP is probably more user friendly. The diurnal does come with an instruction card detailing the layout of the various hours and the blog saintsshallarise.blogspot.com publishes a weekly ordo on what pages and saints will be commemorated and has other resources for getting started with the Diurnal. My personal preference between BDP and the Diurnal would probably lean toward the Diurnal since I like having the option to pray in Latin and use the one week layout. However I can see why someone wishing to have a book that also contains vigils/matins and doesn't care much for Latin will be more or less satisfied by BDP.

[@khaalis9385]

@@StatCruxVolviturOrbis Excellent Excellent Excellent! What a grand synopsis worthy of a Pulitzer Prize! Being old school, I tend to gravitate towards tradition. I took two years of Latin in High School (I believe my teacher, Mrs. McAlpin - may God rest her soul - just gave me a D each quarter because she had a soft spot in her heart for young men with a calling to the Holy Orders), but I remember only singular words with no hope of constructing a sentence! Given the expense and the flipping back and forth, I think I’ll stay with what I have. By the way, a personal friend has authored a book which is a super introduction to how to pray the Divine Office. It’s affectionately titled, “LOR/The Divine Office for DoDos (a polite dummy). Thanks again! I just couldn’t figure that out for nuthin! God Bless!

[@helenat7468]

I am new but interested in praying Divine Office. What is the difference between monastic diurnal and the breviary from Baronius Press, which is much more expensive. I am trying to figure it out. Thank you so much

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

Baronius press sells the 1962 Roman Breviary in 3 volumes which includes all 8 hours and can be used by priests in the latin rite to fulfill their obligation. The monastic diurnal follows a different layout of psalms (that of St. Benedict) and is used mostly by benedictines or lay people associated with them (sometimes called oblates). The diurnal includes only the day hours and not the hour of matins (one of the longer hours) which would have been said during the night. I don't know too much if your situation but if you're starting out, you can probably find a roman diurnal on lulu publishing that's quite cheap. The roman diurnal would have all the hours of the Baronius press version except for the longer matins hours. If you use it regularly then you know investing in Baronius is an option. But again if you feel drawn to the monastic layout/schedule of psalms then you'll probably want to purchase the monastic diurnal which doesn't have as big of a price tag as the Breviary. I believe there's a new edition that is a little thinner and taller out now.

[@finlaystovell7671]

Hi pal, do you know if this is a 1960 Calendar (John XXIII) or a 1970? (Paul VI)? Thank you!

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

It uses the 1960 calendar but it is a "benedictine version" in that it includes more feasts from benedictine saints and some major benedictine feasts are elevated to solemnities such as the solemnity of St. Benedict

[@finlaystovell7671]

@@StatCruxVolviturOrbis That would make sense considering the Solemnity of St. Benedict didn't exist on the general calendar. Considering investing in one of these books myself but I am unsure as I am a sedevacantist and don't know if its permitted lol

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

@@finlaystovell7671 I'm not super informed on the topic but I guess it depends on how far back your sedevacantism goes. Other than how feasts are classified (using the Class I-IV system rather than doubles and semidoubles) the order of the psalms would follow Benedict's rule so seems like something anyone could get behind.

[@finlaystovell7671]

Benjamin Schroder Oh that’s a shame, I probably want be able to use it if it’s Class I-IV and not the older Calendar. Gonna have to go on the lookout for a Breviarium Monasticum from 1953 again ahah

[@DominiCanes94]

Would you be able to make a video on where one would put there ribbons up to current date for lent.

[@DominiCanes94]

For the monastic diurnal for st Michael abbys press

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

If you go to saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2021/02/ordo-2021-quinquagesima-week.html the author of the blog posts weekly guides on what pages you'll need for the upcoming week. The link above is for the days after Ash Wednesday. The pages for the first week of Lent are also posted.

[@CAVEDATA]

Any idea where to get this actual version? As opposed to the thinner book i see on amazon and their site? And thanks for the great videos.

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

After a quick search it looks like vendors might be out of the 7th edition, leaving the thinner 8th edition the most commonly sold one. If you prefer the chunky 7th ed. then perhaps you can find someone selling a used copied.

[@CAVEDATA]

@@StatCruxVolviturOrbis yes good idea ill look around. Thanks for the reply.

[@jonathanluna3558]

Is there one you prefer more the liturgy of the hours or this book ?🤔

[@StatCruxVolviturOrbis]

Short answer: With my current schedule I am able to pray the 5 hours of the LoTH daily. I used the diurnal over summer break and found it fruitful. If I had more diligence I would try to pray the diurnal more regularly but with school back in session that goal has been put lower on the list. Longer Answer: The diurnal in the video doesn't included the office of Matins or Office of Readings as it's called in the Liturgy of the Hours. When I prayed with the diurnal over the summer I used the Office of Readings in place of Matins. If one has taken a vow to pray the Divine Office then mixing like this will not count for fulfilling one's vow. In any case, I do prefer reciting the psalms in one week as it helps them get internalized and it is what countless Christians have done through the ages. The Liturgy of the Hours, however, does have quite a large reach for patristic readings as well as more canticles from the Old Testament which can give one a larger sweep of sacred scripture. The LoTH also uses the same calendar as the Ordinary Form of Mass and so it can throw me off a little to use the diurnal for one saint and then go to Mass where we celebrate a different saint. Hope this helps in some way.