Little Office Spirituality

Lately, I have been praying the Little Office of Our Lady rather than from my diurnal. Its nothing against the diurnal, but the Little Office is such a crucial part of the historic Western Rite and I feel that it is seriously under-utilized now. For the literate of old Europe, it was the preferred devotion. Many of the pious had it committed entirely to memory. The Rosary, which is so vital to modern Roman Catholic spirituality, has largely replaced it as the popular devotion. Why this happened I am not sure. One would have thought that as the literacy rate went up, so would the use of the Little Office, but who knows. Its true that it is (except for the Matins psalms) the same every day, but I see it as a source of comfort, and even as a way to center oneself spiritually. At first you are happy that it is so simple and that there is so little page flipping, and then you become bored and desire a more extravagant form of devotion. Then you slowly start to really get to know the material that you read every day, the psalms and readings becoming familiar in the way that I can really only equate with the Jesus prayer. Indeed, it is a great companion to the Jesus Prayer or the occasional Rosary (you caught me, I still pray the Rosary sometimes, you had better go ask your hierarch if I am Orthodox.) The Little Office has a similar rhythm to the hours of the Horrologion, which for a very long time were the daily prayers of many of the Eastern faithful; long before the relatively recent advent of the morning and evening prayers so common today. There are several options for those who wish to pray the Little Office as far as publications go. The version I use is a battered reprint of a 1914 Latin/English edition. There are a couple fewer psalms than the more ancient versions, but it contains biblical lessons pertaining to the Incarnation and Our Lady's place in salvation. The before mentioned "more ancient" version can be found in "Orthodox Prayers of Old England." I like this version a lot, and it also contains the Little Office of the Holy Guardian Angel, but its style and customary (not really content) are so different from the usages of my parish that it feels sort of like using an Eastern rite prayerbook (of which I have several and occasionally use when so inclined, especially the Jordanville.) Also the book is rather large, and sort of hard to carry around in ones' pocket like my smaller version. I would like to acquire the new Baronius edition which contains the Gregorian chant needed for the entire Little Office. Also a Dominican rite version would be nice as well. The Dominican rite is not as heterodox as it sounds off the cuff. The Dominican rite breviary, Mass, and Little Office contain many ancient prayers and customs that were gradually phased out in the standard Roman Rite. In fact, it has a great deal in common with the Sarum rite (which may not be so pre-schism as some think, more on that in another post maybe.) In any case, I recomend the Little Office to any member of the Western Rite who wants to pray an office but doesn't have the time or patience for the diurnal, or if you are just looking for something to ground your self on.