The Domestic Priest's Breviary
A Guide to Praying the Psalms Amidst Busy Family Life
Like most people on this app, I’ve never learned how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. I’m sure that I could figure it out (although I guarantee the ribbons would be a mess for a solid month before I got the hang of it), but I also don’t always have the time to dedicate to using the breviary- my two young daughters make it difficult to merely say one decade of a rosary!
I can understand the reasons parents give to not use the breviary, but the Church in her wisdom requires her priests to pray the Psalms everyday for a reason; and while we aren’t bound to that same requirement as laypeople, we can maybe “meet the Church halfway” to still receive abundant graces from the praying of the Psalms.
What this article will do is teach you a quick, easy way to pray all 151 Psalms over the course of a month- “The Domestic Priest’s Breviary”. I recommend trying it just once, because it COMPLETELY reinvigorated my spiritual life when I gave it a chance.
Short, Simple, Accessible
Like I mentioned before, the ribbons of the breviary can be difficult to navigate. For this method, you only have to keep track of one book marker and be able to count. Here’s how it works:
Start on Day 1 with Psalm 1- Read it first thing in the morning.
Add thirty to the Psalm that you just prayed and leave your marker on that Psalm (in this case, Psalm 31)
Around mid-morning, open to the Psalm that you previously marked and pray (again, this case would be Psalm 31).
Add thirty to THAT Psalm and leave your marker (in this case Psalm 61)
Repeat 3 more times at various intervals of the day whenever you can find the time to pray (you will pray five Psalms in total every day).
By your 5th and final time praying for the day (in this case Psalm 121), you will now move your marker to the beginning of the Psalms for tomorrow.
On Day 2, instead of starting at Psalm 1, you will go to the next “set” (In this case Psalm 2.)
Repeat for 30 days.
Thank God! You just read the entirety of the Book of Psalms, the book that the Church has chosen to use to praise God throughout the day!
An Easy Practice With Abundant Fruit
You will be shocked at how providential each Psalm feels. Lines will strike you as being exactly what you needed in that moment, you will feel more consistent in calling God to mind throughout the day, and heavenly aid will always feel like it’s making its intercession when you need it most.
The Psalms tend to be short and easily finished in less than 5 minutes. Of course, there are exceptions (Psalm 119 is an absolute BEAST), but even those longer Psalms are still relatively short.
Comment down below if you have any spiritual insights about your experience with “The Domestic Priest’s Breviary”. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks. May the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Chaste Heart of St. Joseph guide the prayer of your domestic church!
For a long time now I have been a prime & compline guy. Matins & lauds are two long to start my Morning with. So settled on prime, the office monks would have prayed before starting their days labors. I love end my evening with compline it’s prayers especially in a pre 1962 Breviary are exactly what i need to end my day. On Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday I due pray lauds my the office of the BVM. I have always loved praying the little office to our lady on Saturday and decided that giving Her two other days of the week was worth my time.
That is a brilliant technique. I usually pray one Psalm in the morning to end my morning prayers and another Psalm at night to end my evening prayers. This allows me to read through all the Psalms about three times in a year. But I really like this idea and may give it a try. Thank you.