Shorter Christian Prayer

[@southernramblings2169]

Thank you for this video. It is EXTREMELY helpful!! God bless you!!

[@cmcnicholas]

Thanks for the kind words! Welcome to this wonderful prayer discipline and God bless!

[@JPPorcaro]

You can skip to 10:45 to jump right into the explanation

[@rebekahdubois9645]

Very thankful! Just received this book. Through this video I’ve learned how to use it! May God bless you and keep using you to draw people closer to him and his truth.

[@clamshell6863]

Thank you very much Father Chris! I started praying the liturgy of the hours. Christian prayer back in April. I didn't really know what I was doing, but then I watched your video explaining the Christian prayer procedure and it helped a lot. Even though I was still lost, I bought Shorter Christian Prayer and practiced with the psalter as well as the morning and evening prayers because I wasn't ready to do the full Breviary yet. Now I'm more comfortable with it and have have seasonal devotionals by Professor William G. Storey. Your explanation and guidance is the best I have seen. Thank you, Father Chris.

[@cmcnicholas]

Thanks for the feedback and I hope your prayer journey is a successful and comforting one! And just so you don't think I'm a final authority, I am not a priest but actually a 4th year candidate in formation for the permanent Diaconate! Thanks again and God Bless!

[@clamshell6863]

​​​@@cmcnicholasI see. It's all good!. Either way, you're a big help. Thank you. Maybe in the next 2 years I will move on to the four book series of Liturgy of the Hours. I may need your help in the future if I do plan to upgrade. 👍

[@DanSuolo]

Thank you, my brother, for Enlightening us on how to read this book!

[@The12thSeahorse]

Best presentation on KZbin.

[@cmcnicholas]

Thank you! I'm happy the videos are helping people improve their prayer lives!

[@edmanley3681]

Hey Christopher, thank you for your videos. Really helpful making this a routine for me.

[@tikolopez8884]

Thank you so much. I have been trying for many years now to get in the habit of doing the Liturgy of the Hours, but if I miss a day (or a week) I get lost as to where I am supposed to be. This was a great help. God Bless.

[@nagaempress]

God Bless you I really appreciate this! I really pray that you can do more instructional videos like this. Have you ever thought of doing videos on the different offices? Like The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

[@cmcnicholas]

I'm not familiar with that office, but I like learning about new things and sharing what I've learned! I'm a little tapped out on expenses for this month, so I may pick up a copy next month and check it out!

[@neoalley]

Thank you-- I am asking my parish to purchase the Shorter, and this video is very informative to those who have never seen it before. Also it's amazing what they pack into so few pages!!!! It makes you think, why does Christian Prayer need to be so thick.

[@Reddishbrownhorse]

Catholic Book Publishing also sells single volumes of Daytime Prayer and Night Prayer. These could be used as supplements to Shorter Christian Prayer or for those interested in just praying those particular hours. I personally have an older prayer book from them called Everyday We Praise You. It contains week one of the Psalter so you can do morning and evening prayer. It also contains other prayers and hymns. It’s out of print but used copies are around.

[@cmcnicholas]

I never even saw those items on the website... thanks for the lead!

[@nkorth]

I got an old used copy which didn't have any ribbons, so I added a couple. It's easy with a small amount of superglue. The spine has a layer of thick paper between the cover and the page block, so I placed the glued ribbon in the gap between that paper and the page block, and pressed it into place with a toothpick. Don't forget to lightly melt the free ends of the ribbons to prevent fraying (assuming you used polyester ribbon.)

[@Chriss2229]

Thank you very much. This didn't help much for me. But thank you. I've watched it twice already and am still lost.

[@VO_JayRedding]

They do sell more ribbons. If I'm understanding right I want the Shorter Christian Prayer. It sounds like it covers Morning, Evening and Night for the entire year?

[@cmcnicholas]

I misplaced my copy, but I believe you are correct... Morning/Evening/Night prayers make up the Shorter Christian Prayer volume.

[@NickyMetropolis1313]

As far as I can tell with Shorter Christian prayer the psalter says the concluding prayer will be in the proper seasons for evening prayer, morning prayer and evening prayer two for this Sunday. Yet morning prayer is the only one that seems to have a conclusion prayer. Very confusing.

[@DonnaLynnH]

Where are we at today ? Volume and all ? I’m so lost.

[@paulgraham6134]

Quick question. I think I understand the process using the shorter book. Currently it is the Lenten season so I use that one section in the shorter book...It's only a week, so I use it over and over until the next season on the calender. I wouldn't return to the 4 week psalter until ordinary time?

[@cmcnicholas]

Hey Paul.. I'm not sure how far you have gone yet with Shorter Christian Prayer... Right now it is Monday, March 1st 2020. The psalter does not change, but yes... you will reuse that one week section for the readings every day. So for this evening's prayer, you would have begun on page 134 (Week II psalter for Monday Evening), but *instead* of the Reading and everything after it at the bottom of page 136, you would flip over to page 412 and do *that* Reading and everything that follows.

[@paulgraham6134]

@@cmcnicholas Thank you, that clears it up. Many thanks. I'm starting with the Shorter book, then I'm working my way up to the full Liturgy. I found the videos very helpful.

[@Cadpat07]

I bought the Shorter CP book...I learned that it does not include all the information when it comes to for example today All Saints Day. It did not follow what was in the app. I was using week 3 and had to flip back to the Proper of Saints. But again, most of the morning did not have the same palms and readings. Prob why it is a shorter book...I’m sure its still valid lol

[@paulgraham6134]

For the Sunday evening I and Sunday evening II in the Shorter Christian Prayer... they point to the Proper of Seasons for the concluding prayer... but it's not quite clear which concluding prayer to use as both are listed under Morning Prayer. Is the assumption here that you'd just select one of the concluding prayers to use for Sunday Evening I and II?

[@cmcnicholas]

That is correct! They provide an Alternate Prayer that you can choose to break up the repetition. If you don't have a Guide, I found this site that has just the page numbers for the whole month in PDF format: www.liturgyofthehours.org/todays-pages

[@paulgraham6134]

@@cmcnicholas Thank you

[@GordMcFee]

Thanks for the video; it was helpful. I have a question and have searched all over and can't find the answer. If you could steer me in the right direction, I would be grateful. Our parish is starting a Liturgy of the Hours service and they have chosen Shorter Christian Prayer as the book. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how you would celebrate a solemnity such as the Annunciation. All they give on the appropriate pages (545-546) are Canticle of Mary, Invitatory, etc, but nowhere are the psalms given. Are they just supposed to be taken from the Psalter for that day, even though the 4-volume set has specific psalms, antiphons, etc? Sorry, this is very confusing. Thanks.

[@cmcnicholas]

Since the Shorter Christian Prayer is so truncated (and designed as such), you are correct in your suspicion that they would follow the psalter for the day. A more knowledgeable friend of mine says; "This is what Holy Family does... They have morning prayer Monday to Friday at 7:45. Monday is Monday, Tuesday is Tuesday, etc. no matter what the day is" The bottom line is, you are using a limited resource, so you will have limitations... but that's okay! The people are praying together and that's what matters.

[@johnrose9134]

I been doing Christian Prayer for a while still get stuck for Advent where there is no Anglophone for the 1st 2 weeks of Advent you just use the Sunday Advent antibiotics for the first 2 weeks of Advent.John Rose Minnesota

[@cmcnicholas]

I'm not sure what you mean, but reviewing it, it appears that the antiphons are present for all 4 Sundays in the Proper of Seasons to be used in conjunction with the psalter on the matching week (Advent 1 use Psalter Sunday 1, Advent 2, use Psalter Sunday 2, etc.). As for the WEEKdays, as far as the antiphons and psalms, it's the usual format we use during the year; if it's not explicitly listed in the Proper of Seasons, we defer to the antiphons and psalms laid out in the psalter for that particular week and day.

[@Shevock]

This is the book I'm using.

[@huallacanes100]

Where did you get that morning prayer, “the morning and evening” your looks way nicer than mine lol

[@mimip154]

Thanks!

[@Ankoian]

I am still learning how to use the "shorter christian prayer", however, sometimes the hymns and the readings don't match with the App, any ideas?? Or I am not picking the right spot? Thank you.

[@cmcnicholas]

I have found that the hymns can REAAALLLY vary. The 4 volume set includes specific hymns printed directly for each hour and each day. If I recall correctly (it's been awhile and I gifted my copy to a friend!) the Christian Prayer includes a decent set of hymns grouped near the back of the book and you pick one of the suggested ones depending on the season. I forget how Shorter handles the hymns. Bottom line on the hymns is that they are not set in stone and can vary.. and that's okay. As for the readings though... they really should match for Morning and Evening prayer. Are you taking into account memorials/solemnities, etc.? Sometimes those come from a different section of the book. You also need to be very careful what app you are using.. I believe there is an Anglican version out there as well, so if you are US based, the texts may be different than the UK version and vice versa.

[@paupaupaupaupau]

Love this

[@anniekochera]

Thank you for this. I use the 4 book set myself, but I have the others for when I'm traveling. I was was wondering, is the Liturgy of the Hours the same as the Catholic Breviary? Thank you. God Bless

[@cmcnicholas]

Yes it is! It's just another name for the Liturgy of the Hours/ Christian Prayer.

[@brandonfrench5285]

As somebody who rarely prays the modern Liturgy of the Hours, around once or twice a month, (I still love it to death though), and only does morning and evening prayer, do you recommend I get a real book (around 20 dollars) or use an app?

[@cmcnicholas]

Personally I prefer the tactile feel of the book. Seeing the book on my nightstand, or carrying it with me during the day is a constant reminder... I feel with an app, I'd constantly forget or get wrapped up in a Twitter battle instead of praying. You also have to be careful with the apps because I'm not sure if any of them actually follow the specific rubrics of the United States conference of Catholic bishops (in my case). While the differences would not be Earth shattering, I prefer to use a set of books officially authorized for use in my country. But the bottom line is if you find it easier to use an app to pray then by all means do so as long as you are praying! There is also a Podcast out there that will read the liturgy of the hours to you. It has the text loaded in as well so you can read along as though you were in communal prayer.... again, not my first choice of method, but an option for some. I found it on the Podbean app, but it may be elsewhere as well. Good luck and God bless!

[@12369ja]

Greg The NotGreat I tried a app once, and discovered that the app doesn’t change for the current day, it is the same every single day