The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

[Dymphna]

For those who pray The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, what edition do you have/use and what do you like about it? Thanks.

[John Lamb]

Currently using the blue, leather-bound one by Baronius Press. It is quite beautifully made / printed. The language is very 19th century English, and sometimes archaic in a bad way.

I also have "The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel with the Office of the Dead according to the Carmelite Rite (1953 Edition)". I prefer this one in terms of the content, the prayers, etc. The language is more modern but not at all liberal or lacking in beauty or solemnity. The problem with this one is that it is cheaply made / printed, and that is bad considering that this book is intended for daily use.

[Jayne]

Currently using the blue, leather-bound one by Baronius Press. It is quite beautifully made / printed. The language is very 19th century English, and sometimes archaic in a bad way.

I have this one too.  I like the feel of it.  I can tell it is good quality and well made. 

The only thing that I don't like about it is that the Latin lacks stress markings.  This means that I need to guess when I come across unfamiliar words.

[LausTibiChriste]

I also have the Baronius one. I love it - very well made. I don't agree with John about the archaic English - I personally haven't had a problem with it.

[Kaesekopf]

I've paged through the Baronius LOBVM, and it's solid looking. 

[Obrien]

Angelus Press version. I like it just fine. I don't know the size of the Baronius Press version but the AP version is just the right size to fit in a handbag.

[Dymphna]

Thank you to everyone who has replied. To those who have the Baronius Press edition, does it contain typos/errors? I read a couple of reviews elsewhere that suggested it had numerous typos and I'm concerned about that. Thanks for the help!

[aquinas138]

The first edition of the Baronius LOBVM had quite a few typos; a second edition corrected many of them. I only have the first edition, so I don't know. It's a lovely and perfectly-sized little book, so it's worth a look. Baronius used to have a bit of a reputation for typos; I haven't bought anything of theirs in a while, so hopefully it's improved.

I have used the Baronius and a reprint of a 1908 edition. Honestly, I prefer the older form because of the commemorations that were cut out in the 1960 reforms, and I like psalms 148-150 at Lauds. It seems to have been extracted from a larger prayer book of Fr. Lasance. If you are brand new to it, the layout isn't super friendly or nearly as attractive as the Baronius, but that isn't a huge deal for me.

[red solo cup]

Mine is the one edited by John Rotelle 1988. I haven't noticed any typos.

[Daniel]

I would not recommend the one by Angelus Press. It's beautifully typeset (just like their Missal), but the problem is, it has a lot of typos and some are very distracting. I even recall one typo that prevented me from even using it, though that may have just been me. (So I ended up giving it away to someone, and I went back to using my Baronius Press one.) Interesting layout on the Angelus Press one though... instead of each page having 2 columns (English and Latin), each page is just one column and they alternate between English and Latin.

As for the Baronius Press one, I think it's pretty nice. My biggest problem is the lack of accent marks in the Latin. And as for the English, if I recall correctly, some of the translations were a bit awkward (I think particularly the way they translated certain sentences that were originally in the subjunctive, though I don't have my book with me so I can't cite any examples of this).

[Dymphna]

I have used the Baronius and a reprint of a 1908 edition. Honestly, I prefer the older form because of the commemorations that were cut out in the 1960 reforms, and I like psalms 148-150 at Lauds. It seems to have been extracted from a larger prayer book of Fr. Lasance. If you are brand new to it, the layout isn't super friendly or nearly as attractive as the Baronius, but that isn't a huge deal for me.

Who publishes this version? Do you know if it is still available?

[angelcookie]

How long does this devotion take each day?

[MundaCorMeum]

How long does this devotion take each day?

Too long for a pregnant woman with 5 kids.  Not trying to discourage you, but you are working really hard right now, physically.  If your prayer life is running smoothly at the moment, you probably shouldn't tamper with it.

[Kaesekopf]

LOBVM?  No more than half an hour to do the whole thing, I imagine....

[Dymphna]

How long does this devotion take each day?

I kept track one day and all seven hours took me a little less than an hour to pray. Matins and Lauds take the most time. Prime, Terce, Sext and None take less than ten minutes each. Vespers and Compline take a little more.