Dear Readers,
Since 2011 I've been blogging about the Liturgy of the Hours. The title, Coffee&Canticles,along with the image of breviary, beverage, and to-do list was meant to evoke the audience I was trying to reach. We're laymen who, encouraged by the statements of Vatican II and recent popes, are trying to make the public prayer of the Church an anchor of our day. Not being monks or nuns who respond to bells, file into the choir, and learn from their elders how to use the breviary and understand the psalms, we have questions to ask and adaptations to make. We also wanted to share our "wow!" moments as we started to uncover the glories of praying with the words, heart and mind of Christ while joined to His mystical body, the Church universal.
Although my love for the Liturgy of the Hours hasn't waned, my desire to blog about it has, somewhat. So has the time I have for this project, given some changes in my daily and weekly responsibilities at home. I'm not sure how many times in the last two years I've chided myself for not blogging here often enough. How many times I resolved to do better, and...didn't.
Mike Demers has been supplying for my failings pretty well since March, but he, too, has responsibilities at home that have made blogging difficult. (Thank you, Mike!)
So, all in all, it seems like the time is ripe for me to close up shop here and move on.
The good news, which was pointed out by in the comments by Rachael on this recent post, the Liturgy of the Hours seems to be much more of a topic on the Catholic internet subculture than it was in 2011. Maybe this blog (and my book which more or less grew out of this blog) managed to light a small fire which is now spreading nicely. This blog was once one of a very few places on the web to learn about the Divine Office, the breviary, etc. That is no longer so.
Although I probably won't be writing here anymore, I'm not taking the blog down just yet. So long as it doesn't get hacked or overrun with spam comments, it will remain here as a resource. If you have a question about some aspect of the LOTH, just do a google search on my name plus a keyword such as "psalm prayers" or "memorials and optional memorials" or "hymns" (to name a few perenniel topics) and you should get a list of posts that deal with your question.
If you crave an ongoing community discussion of the Liturgy of the Hours--which frankly I haven't been much supplying lately) then it's time to join one of the many fine Facebook groups devoted to it. Two of these that I belong to are called "Liturgy of the Hours Discussion and Support Group (Catholic and Anglican)" and "Breviary and Divine Office Discussion Group." (This latter tends more toward discussion of traditional, pre-1962 breviaries for those of that persuasion.) I'm also told that fans of Reddit will find an LOTH subreddit if they look.
If you are holding your breath (N.B.,don't!) about progress towards the new translation/revision of the USA breviary, then check now and then at www.usccb.org, especially following any meeting of the Bishop's conference. Just put "liturgy of the hours, second edition" in their search box and you should be able to find the latest developments.
Anyone else who knows of other good sources should feel free to list them in comments.
In conclusion, it's been fun and inspiring getting to know so many fellow LOTH fans. Your questions have spurred me to learn more. Your obvious devotion and love for the psalter keep me from taking it for granted. Thank you.
If anyone has a question that isn't answered with a search of this blog (or through reading my book )
feel free to email me. thesockeys"at" gmail is where you can reach me.
May the Lord bless you, protect you from all evil, and bring you to everlasting life.
Since 2011 I've been blogging about the Liturgy of the Hours. The title, Coffee&Canticles,along with the image of breviary, beverage, and to-do list was meant to evoke the audience I was trying to reach. We're laymen who, encouraged by the statements of Vatican II and recent popes, are trying to make the public prayer of the Church an anchor of our day. Not being monks or nuns who respond to bells, file into the choir, and learn from their elders how to use the breviary and understand the psalms, we have questions to ask and adaptations to make. We also wanted to share our "wow!" moments as we started to uncover the glories of praying with the words, heart and mind of Christ while joined to His mystical body, the Church universal.
Although my love for the Liturgy of the Hours hasn't waned, my desire to blog about it has, somewhat. So has the time I have for this project, given some changes in my daily and weekly responsibilities at home. I'm not sure how many times in the last two years I've chided myself for not blogging here often enough. How many times I resolved to do better, and...didn't.
Mike Demers has been supplying for my failings pretty well since March, but he, too, has responsibilities at home that have made blogging difficult. (Thank you, Mike!)
So, all in all, it seems like the time is ripe for me to close up shop here and move on.
The good news, which was pointed out by in the comments by Rachael on this recent post, the Liturgy of the Hours seems to be much more of a topic on the Catholic internet subculture than it was in 2011. Maybe this blog (and my book which more or less grew out of this blog) managed to light a small fire which is now spreading nicely. This blog was once one of a very few places on the web to learn about the Divine Office, the breviary, etc. That is no longer so.
Although I probably won't be writing here anymore, I'm not taking the blog down just yet. So long as it doesn't get hacked or overrun with spam comments, it will remain here as a resource. If you have a question about some aspect of the LOTH, just do a google search on my name plus a keyword such as "psalm prayers" or "memorials and optional memorials" or "hymns" (to name a few perenniel topics) and you should get a list of posts that deal with your question.
If you crave an ongoing community discussion of the Liturgy of the Hours--which frankly I haven't been much supplying lately) then it's time to join one of the many fine Facebook groups devoted to it. Two of these that I belong to are called "Liturgy of the Hours Discussion and Support Group (Catholic and Anglican)" and "Breviary and Divine Office Discussion Group." (This latter tends more toward discussion of traditional, pre-1962 breviaries for those of that persuasion.) I'm also told that fans of Reddit will find an LOTH subreddit if they look.
If you are holding your breath (N.B.,don't!) about progress towards the new translation/revision of the USA breviary, then check now and then at www.usccb.org, especially following any meeting of the Bishop's conference. Just put "liturgy of the hours, second edition" in their search box and you should be able to find the latest developments.
Anyone else who knows of other good sources should feel free to list them in comments.
In conclusion, it's been fun and inspiring getting to know so many fellow LOTH fans. Your questions have spurred me to learn more. Your obvious devotion and love for the psalter keep me from taking it for granted. Thank you.
If anyone has a question that isn't answered with a search of this blog (or through reading my book )
May the Lord bless you, protect you from all evil, and bring you to everlasting life.
