Monday, October 7, 2013

Where Do You Put Each Ribbon in Your Breviary?

A reader asks:

I've been praying the LoH for several months from the DivineOffice.org app. Today I picked up a copy of the single-volume CBC LoH. One question - what`s the best (or most common) way to use the bazillion and one ribbons in the book to mark out pages?

I haven't used the one-volume for quite a while, but here's what I did back in the day. 
Of the five ribbons in Christian Prayer one would always go in the four-week psalter. Another would be in the proper of seasons, since this section is used every Sunday in ordinary time, and every day during the holy seasons. 
Ribbon #3 would mark Night Prayer, and #4 in the Proper of Saints. The last one came in handy on days when one of the commons was used. 

This system worked for me because I was not using the Daytime Prayer or the selections of Office of Readings that are in Christian Prayer. When I added the OOR to my routine I purchased a single volume containing just this hour, a book now sadly out of print. 

A beginner to the Liturgy of the Hours might want to keep a ribbon in the Ordinary for the Invitatory Psalm and the gospel canticles until these are eventually memorized. But it is actually easier to make photo copies of these and paste them onto the inside front and back covers.

It is also a good idea to keep one or two holy cards in your breviary in case you want to mark the location of a hymn or some other spot in Christian Prayer.