Does anybody have a Latin edition of the Liturgia Horarum who could help me figure out this peculiarity? It concerns the time from January 2 up to before Epiphany.

I was first alerted to this problem by this blog entry: http://fatherschnippel.blogspot.com/2009/01/correction-in-liturgy-of-hours.html.

Fr. Schnippel's point makes perfect sense, and is congruent with what I found on the online version of the Liturgia Horarum: http://www.almudi.org/Portals/0/docs/Breviario/fuentes/breviario2.asp?tiempo=1.

So I assumed it was a 1975 ICEL translation issue. They merely got confused between 2, 3, 4 (dates), and II, III, IV (ferias).

But just now, in examining the collects in the Missal and in the Antiphonale Monasticum, I realized that it's not so cut and dry.

For one, at Mass during this particular time, the readings in the Lectionary are assigned according to dates (Jan 2, 3, etc.), while the Collects are in fact assigned according to days of the week (Mon, Tue, etc.)

In the Divine Office, when you think this through, this means that even if you follow the Latin Liturgia Horarum, more years than not (regardless of whether Epiphany is transferred to Sunday or not), you'll be ending the hours with the Collect from the wrong day (at least compared to the Missal).

In comparing the way the Latin collects are listed in the 1981 Psalterium Monasticum with those in the 2006 Antiphonale Monasticum, Solesmes seems to have caught on to this problem. In the 1981 book these collects are listed by date (Jan 2, 3, etc.), and now they are listed according to day of the week (Feria II, III, etc.).

The problem is, it seems that neither the Liturgia Horarum - where the proper is specified according to date (Jan 2, 3, etc.) - nor the 1975 ICEL Liturgy of the Hours - where the proper is specified according to day of the week (Mon, Tue, etc.) - is completely correct. Following the "date" method seems to give you the intended readings, Benedictus and Magnificat antiphons and the incorrect Collect. Following the day of the week method will give you the correct Collect, but incorrect everything else.

Am I missing something here?