A Companion to the Monastic Breviary

The Monastic Breviary, the last edition of which this Companion deftly introduces, faithfully hands on the sixth century liturgical tradition of Saint Benedict himself which has sustained classical monastic life and prayer ever since. Its renewed popularity in our times... is surely a sign of God’s Providence, of the springing-up of a beautiful and fruitful plant in the spiritually and liturgically arid times in which we live...

Rubrics and calendars and tables of feasts can be daunting, but they serve to protect and convey the riches of the tradition they serve... Hence the painstaking work of the Companion’s editors should occasion our gratitude, for if through their efforts the riches of the Monastic Breviary can be plumbed all the more profoundly, or even discovered anew, they will have done much indeed to assist us to ’put nothing before the Work of God’ (Rule Ch. 43) so that Almighty God may be justly glorified, for in so doing lies nothing less than our salvation. -Dom Alcuin Reid, Monastère Saint-Benoît, Brignoles

What does this book include?

A first ever translation of the Latin rubrics of the 1963 Mo]nastic Breviary as translated by the editors of A Companion to the Monastic Breviary, and a unique Commentary on the Monastic Hours.

Part 1: Liturgical Documents including:

General Rubrics, General Rubrics of the Breviary, The Year and its Parts, and Revised Table of Movable Feasts

Part 2: Commentary and Explanation:

Of the rubrics, Of the spiritual meaning of each hour, and Of the historical development of each hour.