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Hi there. I've asked in the past about which Horologion is best for use. Three that seem to be mentioned are:

Byzantine Daily Worship
The Unabbreviated Horologion
St. Tikhon's Seminary Horologion

One other question. Is one of these best for individual home use? I.e. I've seen that some horologion's seem to be setup mainly for church use with a priest/deacon. I want to say the office privately at home by myself. Are any of these appropriate? Is one better than another?

I'm used to the Latin rite "Liturgy of the Hours" but would like to start using the Byzantine office.

Shawn, CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM! I will share with you what I personally feel. ALL the Byzantine Offices are difficult to pray 'privately' because they were meant more for communal celebration. I have tried using ALL the various Horolgia (?) over the years and found them ALL wanting. I've settled on the "Short Breviary (1975 Edition)" as the best for me personally in terms of length and completeness. This is probably something that each person must settle with their spiritual father/confessor...but for me, the older Short Breviary is the best. I went through the same desire to use an 'Eastern' form of Office over the years and tried them all...but found major difficulties with each and every one. I think personally that THE most important thing is PRAYER and how to best 'work at prayer' daily and regularly. The form of the Byzantine Office is simply too lengthy and difficult to pray privately...at least for me. When you find something that works for you---use it and don't worry so much about whether it is 'Easern' or 'Western'...that's my suggestion for what it's worth.

Sorry if I've repetitious here.

Wishing you a blessed Nativity feast!

In Him Who is Born for us,
+Fr. Gregory

Insert the word BEEN between I've and repetitious! Sorry!

In Him,
+Fr. G

Shawn,

All of the books you have listed are good and useful in prayer, but I second Father Gregory�s suggestions. The Byzantine Office is structured for monastic, corporate prayer. Individuals seeking to incorporate elements from the Byzantine Office into their private, daily prayer should be careful about attempting to incorporate too much, because this could possibly lead to overload.

Prayer rules should be undertaken only after consulting with one�s spiritual father or mother. Generally speaking, I recommend applying the �KISS� rule (with �KISS� standing for �Keep it simple, Silly�). The simpler the rule of prayer, the greater the likelihood it can be kept over the long run.

I recommend starting with something simple, like "A Morning Rule of Prayer" and trying that for six months or so. An evening rule of prayer would be similar, except one would use Psalm 140 (141 in most Bibles). The first additions I would make to these would be the daily Scripture readings, and then maybe a single troparion from each of the eight tones or possibly the saint of the day.

Admin

There is one book made that took individual recitation in mind and that is Eastern Christian Publications: Let Us Pray to the Lord, Volume I The Daily Office. It contains all the offices but rather than attempt to offer all propers gives daily propers according to the day Monday-The Holy Angels, Tues-St. John the Forerunner, etc. You can find it here:
http://www.ecpubs.com/htdocs/products/liturgical.html

You are addressing the concern that I have primarily thought of when I have looked through the editions of the Horologion that I have seen. Namely that they are quite lengthy (too much so to be practical in a secular state of life I would say) and also more directed toward public liturgical use.

That being said, can anyone else attest to the edition that Deacon Lance refers to?

Effectively I am one who loves the Divine Office and as a rule pray it everyday for Morning and Evening prayer unless responsibilities make it impossible. I am very much tied in my own prayer life to the idea of following the liturgical year and "sacred time". But as you know, the Eastern Churches have their own unique emphases which I also quite appreciate in prayer. Thus my motivation is to have something that would fulfill both desires. (I am also aware of other means to draw from the East, the Jesus Prayer, the Akathists, etc. which I do.)

I imagine the divine office of the Latin rite will always remain my staple, and that is perfectly fine with me. I only seek that which might be a usable option as "icing on the cake" now and again.

Many thanks for the comments so far, including those regarding the advice of spiritual directors. That is indeed important.

I forgot to add, I shall take a look at this. Thank you.

Shawn,

If you are using Morning and Evening Prayer from the Roman LOTH perhaps you could round that out with one of the Little Hours or Compline from the Byzantine Office. These are much simpler than Vespers or Matins. No changing parts but the Tropar and Kontak and all prayers but the blessings may be recited lay people. If you want the texts PM me with your address and I will mail them to you.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Shawn, all of those that you mention are good. Of these I have preferred the Unabbreviated Horologion (Jordanville) for years, but as Fr. Gregory has wisely mentioned all are lacking due to the richness and immense treasure of the Byzantine liturgical tradition.

Another book you did not mention is the "Great Horologion" or "Mega Horologion" published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery. It is the English translation of the Athonite usage and is the most complete in English, but also quite expensive (about $ 140).

One VERY good and very inexpensive book ($12-15) is "The Hours of Prayer: A Book of Devotion" printed by the ACROD. It has the basic schema for the Hours. I have recommended this to several just starting out with the Hours and it has been very helpful.

It includes many of the B&W prints and translated prayers from the Pochaiv 1793 Molitvoslov which is one of my favorites in Slavonic. It also has many wonderful daily prayers, such as the Lorica of St. Patrick, the prayer of the Optina Elders, etc. The translation is very readible. It is also easily transported in a briefcase, backpack, etc.

You can get it from St. Vladimir's Seminary Press and also on Ebay from such suppliers as "St. Joseph's School for Boys".

The Old Rite prayerbook "Old Orthodox Prayer Book" published by the parish in Erie is also quite nice.

You can also get many ideas online at Fr. John Whiteford's page http://pages.prodigy.net/frjohnwhiteford/services.htm He has some very good instructions on how to use Reader's Services without a priest. Also make use of the many beautiful Akathists and Canons one can say anytime.

But start out gradually, with one office a day that is straightforward, such as the Midnight Office, Small Compline, or one of the Little Hours during the day, an Akathist, etc. Get comfortable with that, and with your spiritual father go from there.

Christ is born!
Another reasonably easy way to start would be to use the morning and evening prayer sections in the back of the Orthodox Study Bible. Those who have been visiting Byz BBSs for a few years will remember that these prayers are essentially the same as the old Byzantines.net daily prayers that used to be sent around.

All the best,
Woody