ICEL Hymns for the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition
  • Richard R.
    Posts: 776
    "...definitive form..."
    50 years on, I chuckle hollowly.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen tomjaw
  • smcatharine
    Posts: 50
    The latest news I received is that it is now LATE 2022 or early 2023.
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    I really don't look for anything until 2025, which is when the new translation of the NAB is supposed to come out.
  • smcatharine
    Posts: 50
    They hymns are supposed to come out sooner and from what I hear everything is ready to go so why the delay???? I can only imagine about 10 different scenarios.
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    why the delay????

    Mine own uneducated guess is because of CoVID, supply-chain problems, inflation, & other Technical Difficulties.
    Thanked by 1mattebery
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Salieri,

    I think those will be blamed, but that only explains the last 2 years of delays.
  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 536
    They hymns are supposed to come out sooner and from what I hear everything is ready to go so why the delay???? I can only imagine about 10 different scenarios.


    This is not entirely true—the texts are ready, but the musical settings are still being edited and adapted. They were supposed to be done already, but various delays have caused them to become available more slowly than expected.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if we still see the final hymnal published this year.
    Thanked by 1RMSawicki
  • smcatharine
    Posts: 50
    Well, that is good to hear!
  • RMSawicki
    Posts: 127
    "I wouldn’t be surprised if we still see the final hymnal published this year."

    'twould be a consummation most devoutly to be wished!

    Gaudete in Domino Semper!
  • smcatharine
    Posts: 50
    It is nearly October of 2022. Anyone hear what is happening with the book of hymns for the Office? Who is publishing it? The USCCB bookstore is closing so it isn't them.
  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 536
    The hymnal is in the layout process right now, and while I’m not in a position to say who will be publishing it publicly, I’ll say that it has a publisher, but that paper is difficult to come by right now and I haven’t heard yet exactly when it will be going to press. Hopefully not too far off in the future.

    I will say that it’s going to be a beautiful edition, and I look forward to its release.
    Thanked by 2drforjc ServiamScores
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    Since the Liturgy of the Hours seems to be published only by Catholic Book Publishing, I would say that they would a good bet to publish it.
  • davido
    Posts: 942
    If we’re putting out predictions, I’m going to guess that Source and Summit is involved.
  • smcatharine
    Posts: 50
    Good to hear it will be beautiful...which, although I know the folks at CBP personally...they haven't changed their style in 60 years!
    Isn't it crazy that paper is difficult to come by right now. In my days in the print shop we would literally get massive truckload donations of beautiful, high quality paper.
    I am really looking forward to this new volume. I want the Sisters to use it as soon as we can.
    Thanks, Marc, for all the hard work.
  • RMSawicki
    Posts: 127
    DEO GRATIAS!
    (BTW, the "Source & Summit" annual really is fabulous! I mean...it HAS the offertory antiphons! Yee hah!)

    Gaudete in Domino Semper!
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    I don't know who the publisher is either, but it seems that ICEL is having custom engravings prepared, much as they did for the Roman Missal melodies; they aren't leaving it to the publisher.
  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 536
    Chonak,

    Not ICEL, but the USCCB. I’m the one that engraved the hymnal (and the engravings are complete, for what it’s worth). It was always supposed to be published by the USCCB, and the closure of the publishing office came as a complete surprise to everyone.

    The entire hymnal is still being assembled by the USCCB, but will just be published by another company. I can’t wait to see it in print. The proofs look fantastic.

    It’s going to be a great resource not just for those communities that pray the office, but anyone looking for solid hymns to use.

    Marc
    Thanked by 2chonak Elmar
  • monasteryliturgistmonasteryliturgist
    Posts: 306
    @Marc Cerisier
    Will the new breviary have engravings too? We really would like to see something different rather than those weird orange figures- for example the one with the eye and the boat - they are distracting really. One of our sisters said, well if they dont make new images Ill make my own and paste them into the new breviary!

    Also, another big question we all have- will there be + on the Flex lines and * like they do in other countries? It would be so helpful for everyone who chants the office!? Maybe I am asking something you have no idea about...

    For example:

    Christ died for you+
    and left for you an example *
    to have you follow in his footsteps
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen LauraKaz
  • smcatharine
    Posts: 50
    I'm so happy to hear about the new hymnal. I hope there will be some way to give quantity discounts to communities who have the obligation to pray the Divine Office and for whom buying new books is a huge expense. When the breviary came out in the 70's Mr. Cavalero of Catholic Book publishing did this for the contemplative monasteries, an act of kindness for which my monastery remains grateful.

    I have been asking for the flex to be put into the new breviary. The English edition (UK) always had it. As a Dominican I feel we will lose a bit of our tradition by not penciling in the flex sign that we and the Cistercians use but I have had to mark too many breviaries and would rather it were printed in! Then when nuns meet we would all have the same marks!
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen tomjaw monasteryliturgist
  • ronkrisman
    Posts: 1,394
    @smcathatine brings up an important issue: the flex. But -- someone please correct me if I am mistaken -- the psalms to be included in the US edition of the Liturgy of the Hours will be from the Conception Abbey Psalter, which does not use the flex because the lines of text are quite consistent in length (as is the case of the Grail Psalter used in the first US edition of the Liturgy of the Hours).
  • FKulash
    Posts: 82
    the Conception Abbey Psalter, which does not use the flex because the lines of text are quite consistent in length


    I assume "flex" implies using Gregorian psalm tones. The flex is used when there are an odd number of lines. It is not related to the length of the lines. For example, to sing Psalm 1 of the Revised Grail (or Conception Abbey) version without a flex, you would either have to combine lines, or sing across the strophe break (i.e., what looks like a paragraph break) between verses 3 and 4. Psalm 2 has a similar problem. Psalm 3 has an odd number of lines altogether, so you would need to combine lines.

    You might think of the Conception Abbey tones as having four different flexes. They are not marked as such, because they are easily deduced from the number of lines in a strophe.
    Thanked by 1ronkrisman
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    Grail Psalter, as still used in the non-US version of the Office :-

    Come ín; let us bów and bend lów; *
    let us knéel before the Gód who máde us:
    for hé is our Gód and wé †
    the péople who belóng to his pásture, *
    the flóck that is léd by his hánd.

    Set in strophes, with Gelineau stress marks, and verses indicated for those who want them. (We have had this discussion before.)


  • monasteryliturgistmonasteryliturgist
    Posts: 306
    thats strange that they would put the flex on "and we" . We would have just sang it together with the second line because its breaking the line in an extremely awkward place. The flex normally occurs with three lines but if its too strange, it seems better to combine lines rather than destroy the sense of the phrase.
    Thanked by 1ServiamScores
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,883
    Agreed. I also thought it was strange.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    Yes I suppose so, but after 45 years of regularly singing it that way it has become second nature :-)
  • GerardH
    Posts: 460
    Gelineau is the reason. While the Grail Psalter borrows the idea of flexes and mediations from Gregorian tones, Gelineau tones don't deal well with long reciting texts.
    Thanked by 1a_f_hawkins
  • monasteryliturgistmonasteryliturgist
    Posts: 306
    @GerardH Yes, but in Gregorian the flexes still respect the structure of the sentence
    I think its just people who knew about flexes but didnt know how to use them correctly.

    Normally +
    people do *
    not speak like so.

    Rather +
    normally speak in this way. *
    If you know what I mean
    Thanked by 4CHGiffen ServiamScores Chris Garton-Zavesky bhcordova
  • smcatharine
    Posts: 50
    This is true. In our breviaries we don't always follow the structure of the sections as written but put in a flex to respect the structure of the sentence which then sometimes creates 3 lines.

    We use the Grail Ps 95, not the one in the breviary and we sing,
    Come in, let us bow and bend low+

    Our flex looks like an upside down 2. You can find it in the Meinrad Fonts.

  • PaxTecum
    Posts: 314
    The new abbey psalms and canticles has this:

    O come; let us bow and bend low. *
    Let us kneel before the Lord who made us,

    for he is our God, and we the people, *
    the people of His pasture, the flock of his hand.
    Thanked by 1monasteryliturgist
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