The Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton (aka the Melkite Catholic diocese of the United States) has given a wonderful Christmas present to the faithful this year. The gift is a small book, 87 pages and about the size of the palm of my hand, called A Book of the Hours. It is an abbreviation of the Byzantine Divine Office (missing the variable daily parts) arranged for use by the faithful at any point in the day. An appendix in the back has the introductory rites for the various hours, some of the more common troparia (Greek antiphons), prayers for before and after meals, and Communion devotions.
We are thankful to the bishop of Newton, Nicholas Samra, for this kind and clairvoyant means of uniting our personal prayers with those of the Church universal.
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*envy* X-D
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. How is this different from the Divine Office that you pray? Sorry for my ignorance. :( lol
ReplyDeleteThe Divine Office is a type of public prayer, prayed throughout the day, that developed from all night prayer vigils among the early Christians. I usually pray the Roman Office, descended from the ancient Roman Church. This is the Byzantine version, following the example of ancient Constantinople.
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