CHANTING THE DIVINE OFFICE

“The liturgy of the hours, like other liturgical services, is not a private matter but belongs to the whole Body of the Church, whose life it both expresses and affects.” (GILH 20)

I have been praying the Divine Office (aka Liturgy of the Hours) since my high school and college days. Lauds is prayed at 5:00 in the morning, Vespers at 6:00 in the evening after work, and Compline at the end of the day before going to bed. It provides my day with spiritual nourishment and soaks me in to the liturgical life of the Church.

The Divine Office is simply recited on week days and chanted on Sundays, Feasts and Solemnities. During summer and Christmas vacation, the Liturgy of the Hours is chanted daily. 

For chanting the Divine Office, I use the following books / resources. Some of these I downloaded and printed myself.

TEXTS of the DIVINE OFFICE:

• CHRISTIAN PRAYER (Paulines Edition) 
• DAILY ROMAN MISSAL (3rd Edition) for the Collects

MUSIC

A. English (Contemporary)

• Tunes for Christian Prayer - a hand-copy I made of the one used by the Poor Clare nuns of Palasao, Cantilan, Surigao del Sur. I borrowed a copy of this book when I was in college and I copied it for one month. It is a compilation of tones for the antiphons and psalmody made by the FMM sisters. Psalm tones are mostly from Murray and Bevenot. There is an appendix of settings for the Magnificat and Benedictus.
• Breaking Bread and Today's Missal (Oregon Catholic Press) - for the Lord's Prayer and for some hymns
• Music for the Liturgy of the Hours (ICEL) - a companion volume of the one-volume Christian Prayer published by Catholic Book Publishing. I has all the hymns as suggested by the Christian Prayer pointed to music, musical settings for the introductory verses,  psalm tones (Murray, Bevenot), selections for the antiphons, responsories, tones for the intercessions, Gospel Canticles, etc.

B. English ("Gregorian Chant"): Lauds and Vespers

     Introductory Verses

• Cantorinus 
• Sunday Lauds and Vespers (http://www.saintmeinradmusic.org/downloads/SLV_Cantor.pdf) 

     Hymns

• Hymnal Noted (http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=2E3Dya5ON5oC&printsec=frontcover&hl=tl#v=onepage&q&f=false)
• Hymner 

     Antiphons (Psalmody and for the Gospel Canticles)

• Ormonde Plater's English version of the new Antiphonale Monasticum (http://www.oplater.net/)
• Fr. Samuel Weber's antiphons (https://sites.google.com/a/sacredmusicus.org/sacred-music-us/divine-office)

     Psalm Tones

• St. Meinrad Modal Psalm Tones (http://www.saintmeinradmusic.org/downloads/Modal%20Psalm%20Tones%20%28Chnt%29.pdf)

     Responsories

•  Ormonde Plater's English version of the new Antiphonale Monasticum (http://www.oplater.net/)

     Gospel Canticles

• Gospel Canticles for Weekdays (https://sites.google.com/a/sacredmusicus.org/sacred-music-us/divine-office)

      Lord's Prayer

• Parish Book of Chant (http://www.musicasacra.com)
• Music for the Roman Missal (http://www.icelweb.org/musicfolder/openmusic.php)

 C. Latin (occasionally)

•  Liber Usualis (http://www.musicasacra.com)
• Antiphonale Romanum (1912) (http://www.musicasacra.com)
• Holger Peter Sandhofe's Antiphonale Romanum (http://web.ist.utl.pt/~duarte.valerio/HPS.zip)
• Parish Book of Chant (http://www.musicasacra.com)
• Dominican Rite Liturgia Horarum (http://dominican-liturgy.blogspot.com/)

A SAMPLING FROM TODAY'S OFFICE:

The introductory verses were taken from:

 
The hymn, Deus Tuorum Militum, for St. Stephen, martyr, is from:

The antiphons (Psalmody and Benedictus/Magnificat) were from:

(Ormonde Plater's English Version of Antiphonale Monasticum)

The Psalm Tones used:

(St. Meinrad Modal Psalm Tones)

Texts:

The Benedictus and Magnificat tones were from:

(Fr. Weber's The Gospel Canticles)

The Lord's Prayer (Pater Noster) was from:

 (The Parish Book of Chant)

The collect was taken from:

 

"The sung celebration of the divine office is more in keeping with the nature of this prayer and a mark of both higher solemnity and closer union of hearts in offering praise to God. . . . Therefore the singing of the office is earnestly recommended to those who carry out the office in choir or in common." (GILH 268)

It's always a joy to have the opportunity to sing the Office and offer a sacrifice of praise to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit with the Church. May God grant me the grace of perseverance...