Breviarium Romanum - Roman Breviary

Those who wish to pray the Roman Breviary can visit http://divinumofficium.com/ [1]:

This website was created and designed by the late Laszlo Kiss. Mr. Kiss, longtime resident of Forrest Lake, Illinois, died suddenly at his home on Monday, 11 July 2011, shortly after returning from a walk with his wife Marta. He was three days shy of his 73rd birthday. Mr. Kiss was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 14 July 1938, and married Marta Noske on 31 January 1968. He worked in Budapest as a computer engineer until emigrating to the United States of America in 1982. In 1983, he developed “Image,” one of the first computer-controlled manufacturing systems in the world (still in use to this day). He retired in 2000, and, among other things, selflessly devoted hundreds of hours to creating the website divinumofficium.com, which provides free access to many different versions of the Divine Office (or breviary), the traditional daily prayer book of the Roman Catholic Church. His funeral was held at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Volo, Illinois, on the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (16 July). Mr. Kiss is survived by three brothers in Hungary, and in the States by his loving wife Marta (of forty-three years), their two sons Zoltan and Chaba, and their two grandchildren Sophie and Ryan.

On Monday, August 15, 2011, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, The Divinum Officium Project was founded, with the permission of Laszlo's son Chaba, to preserve and further Laszlo's work and to promote the worship of the Triune God through the Divine Office. Currently, The Divinum Officium Project consists of a diocesan priest as well as three software developers who maintain the site and ensure its accuracy.

As of this date, the website does not require a subscription and has no advertisements, and is comprehensive with many versions:

1. pre Trident Monastic
2. Trident 1570
3. Trident 1910
4. Divino Afflatu
5. Reduced 1955
6. Rubics 1960
7. 1960 Newcalender

The section below explains the different versions, quoted without bullet points and hyperlinks from
http://divinumofficium.com/www/horas/Help/versions.html [2]:

Historical versions of the Divinum Officium

The Divinum Officium was the official prayer of the Roman Catholic Church for at least 1500 years, until 1 November 1970, when it was significantly changed to The Liturgy of the Hours by the Apostolic Constitution of Paul VI Laudis canticum. This programlet, as conceived by Laszlo Kiss, is partially a device enabling one to pray the Office easily, and partially a historical document to visually show the changes in the last few hundred years. These purposes are maintained by The Divinum Officium Project since August 2011, with the intent that the website should be usable and historically accurate. This project shows how the daily Office was collected from the same psalms, lections, hymns, versicles and responsories for the different versions:

The pre-Tridentine Monastic version is an attempt to illustrate the Benedictine Breviary, as it is described in the Regula of St. Benedict, with the exception that, for lack of resources, only 9 lessons are included for Sundays and Feasts, instead of 12 lessons. See details below.

The version ordered after the Council of Trent by Pope St. Pius V, which, except for the ever increasing number of feasts in the Proprium Sanctorum, was virtually unchanged until the 20th Century. This Tridentine version was based essentially on the Roman Rite in use at this time. Therefore, the majority of psalms were prayed in Matins, Lauds, and Vespers. The little hours contained the same Psalm 118 everyday, which was memorized by heart and could be prayed without a book, at the little hours. Sunday Matins contained 18 psalms, and the weekday Matins contained 12 psalms. Lauds and Vespers were considerably longer, due to the length of of the psalm and their suffragia. The Feasts of Saints offered some relief in the number of psalms. Those Matins consisted of 9 psalms only, which broke the rule of the required 150 psalms a week. The number of Festive Offices came to exceed the number of ferial Sunday Offices, when more than two thirds of the days were Festive Offices.

The Trident 1570 version uses the original 1570 calendar, the Trident 1910 version uses the permanent calendar from the 1888 Pustet edition Hiemalis volume. The two differ only in the calendars. Missing offices are updated as sources allow. Both the 1570 & 1910 versions use the Clementine psalter, as well as the same rubrics. We are seeking to add the pre-Urban VIII hymnody for the Monastic and 1570 hours, and as an option for the other forms. Please help. See details below.

The Divino Afflatu version is named from the Encyclical of St. Pius X, and was the Official version from 1911 to 1960. St. Pius X formulated two main changes:

The version uses the ferial psalms for the festive offices except for the 1st and 2nd class feasts, and for a few others which antiphons are used for a feast. The Tridentine version "Seasonal" mode is an attempt to show the effect of this change without the change of the Psalter.

Also, psalms are divided into a weekly cycle without significant repetition of the psalms (9 psalms for Matins, 5 each for the major hours, 3 each for the minor hours). The encyclical also shortened significantly the suffragia, and other parts of the office, reducing the time at prayer by about 20%.

The Divino Afflatu version uses the permanent calendar from the printed 1943 Pustet edition, Hiemalis volume.

The version Reduced 1955 is based on Cum Nostra Hac aetate decree.

The version Rubrics 1960 ordered by the Motu Proprio Rubricarum Instructum 1960 of John XXIII. These changes further shortened the prayer time by an additional 5% and 15% respectively. This version uses the permanent calendar from the 1960 Codex Rubricarum. See details below.

The 1960 New Calendar version implements the 2009 Ordinary Form calendar. It uses the 1960 rubrics, which is now the Extraordinary Form of the office. It is merely an experiment, on the idea that this form should be the living prayer of the Church. See details below.

"Laszlo prayed the Divino Afflatu version personally, but the main point of this project was and is to show that the changes published in 1955 and 1960 are not more than the changes which were made in 1911 by Divino Afflatu. In all changes, the reason was to simplify and shorten the Office." [3]

The pre-Trident monastic version is a personal preference.  Thank you, Mr. Laszlo Kiss, for your gift to the world.


[1] http://divinumofficium.com/
[2] http://divinumofficium.com/www/horas/Help/versions.html
[3] Ibid.