Liturgia Horarum (Hardcover Edition)

This writer purchased this six-volume set published of the Liturgiam Horarum by the Midwest Theological Forum and subsequently sent these off to the Norris Book Binding Company in Greenwood, Mississippi to be re-bound in genuine leather in-sown with five long-length silk book markers to replace the two book marks originally inherent to each volume. This raised the total cost of this set to be more than eight-hundred dollars for what will constitute a life-time investment of daily use. The format of each of these volumes has a large-print format that integrally does not diminish the beauty of each sacred page. Each of the volumes for Ordinary time tend to overlap one another and the Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter seasons are separated – I suppose that this gives the rationale for the six volumes over the four volume Liturgiam Horarum currently unavailable from the Libreria Editrice Vaticana. The volumes are not as small nor as easy to handle as the latter set – but this set does constitute the very best for the dedicated participant in the daily prayer life of the Catholic Church in Latin, the Lingua Materna of the church.

I have prayed the “Officium Divinum” for about a year now with this Latin breviary, and I can most warmly recommend it. The print is large and clear enough to read even from a little distance, so that I can also use it for singing the liturgy of the hours in Gregorian Chant in combination with Abbaye de Solesmes’ resources (“Antiphonale Monasticum” Series, “Liber Hymnarium” and “Psalterium Monasticum”). The books are high quality and hold up well. For me they are certainly worth the price. Good job MTF, what would I do without you? “Domine, labia mea aperies, et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.” PS.: I recently bought the “Nova Vulgata Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio typica altera” directly from the Vatican Library… Could that be something you might tackle to complete the Latin offering?