Praying the Offices on Electronic Devices

I have been most grateful for how easy it is to pray Mattins or Evensong through John Covert's Morning and Evening Prayer site using my laptop or my phone. The readings are updated daily as are the Psalms, the Canticles and the Collect(s) of the Day. I don't need an ordo or a pile of books. It's simple and leaves me with no excuse, no matter what time of day or or where I am or how tired I am.

There's also an opportunity to call a toll free number to participate with others in Ordinariate-land via the site. I used to do that frequently and it's a great way to start the day or end it in the company of others even if only over a telephone line.

However, I remember what Cardinal Robert Sarah said a few years ago about using electronic devices to aid in prayer. Here's an excerpt from remarks published at the New Liturgical Movement in Sept. 2017:

We all benefit from the advances of modern technology, but the many (maybe too many?) technological devices upon which we rely can enslave us in a constant stream of communication and demands for instant responses. We must leave this behind if we are to celebrate the liturgy properly. Perhaps it is very practical and convenient to pray the breviary with my own mobile phone or tablet or another electronic device, but it is not worthy: it desacralizes prayer.

Gulp! I have so much respect for Cardinal Sarah that I have kept this in the back of my mind even if I have not laid my phone or laptop aside.

Since the remark I read criticizing as liturgical abuse any deviation from the form of our Offices when praying the Offices at home because these are the prayers of the Church, I have been using books and an ordo again, even if it is sometimes more cumbersome and time-consuming. I think it does make a difference. I urge you to try different methods to find out what best helps you draw close to God and worship Him.

I think it's part of our patrimony to learn how to juggle a bunch of different books. We have in Canada the Book of Common Prayer, the Bible, the Ancient Office Hymnal. At home, I have the St. Gregory's Prayer Book because some Canticles are not in the Canadian 1962 BCP. When we went to church pre-COVID restrictions, we had all those plus the Mass booklet, the leaflet with the readings, and the blue hymnal! Quite daunting for newcomers to follow!

Sometimes I light a candle or candles. Sometimes I read the whole thing out loud. Sometimes, I recite only parts out loud. Sometimes I stand, kneel or sit at the same time we would in church. Sometimes I sit the whole time. Sometimes, I'm nearly prone in bed with my phone and the light's out because I'm too tired. Sometimes I have sung the Psalms and the Canticles with the help of Healey Willan's Psalter.

Sometimes I pray outside and I walk around into the canopy of trees beyond my little garden.

The important thing is that I try to pray them everyday. I don't always make it. Sometimes I am doubling up the readings of yesterday's Evensong on the morning's Mattins.

Perfection is the enemy of the good.

The important thing is to keep trying.

In a subsequent post, I'll share some suggestions on how to prepare for a more robust devotional life.