The Little Office of Baltimore: A Traditional Office for American Laity

Is this the same as The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which you are supposed to pray if you are enrolled in the brown scapular?

Over the years I have purchased a few different books for praying the Divine Office. Some have been too lengthy for me to pray and others had translations of the Psalms I did not prefer. I have found this book most wonderful. I love the translation of the Psalms. The way it’s been put together makes it very easy to use. The book itself is very sturdy. The pages are not too thin and have gold on the edges with a beautiful soft leather cover. There are also 3 different coloured ribbons. I am very pleased with this book and will be using it every day. Thank you Tan books.

I’ve been looking for a short, traditional Office so that I can abandon carrying around a full volume of my Roman Breviary or Liturgy of the Hours every day. After having this for a few weeks now, I really want to recommend this office but in its current form there are just so many editorial issues with the content that I can't recommend it as a serious devotional tool. Before delving into the areas that need work, I'd like to highlight what this book does well. First, it has the same high-quality feel that mirrors what you would expect from TAN’s “Manual for…” series of publications. The cover material is a thick leatherette in a gorgeous gray-black color. The ribbons are sewn into a binding that feels sturdy and substantial. The pages are thick and the ink and typesetting is fantastic. Additionally, the formatting for the content is top-notch. There is the daily unchanging psalter, a basic proper that catalogs any liturgical season changes, a section of commons for the BVM, Saints, etc. that can be utilized for feast days, and a collection of psalms for various occasions. Considering the diversity of content, the Little Office of Baltimore occupies a unique space somewhere between the Baronius Press Little Office of the BVM (that is fairly static in its organization) and a full-blown Roman Breviary or Liturgy of the Hours. However, when it comes to content this Office falls woefully short. First, there is no ordinary whatsoever. Having an ordinary would allow for cutting out of some of the “common” content that pops up across the hours (introductions, conclusions, rubrics, etc.). Regarding this common content, there are significant inconsistencies that make it difficult to learn the format. For instance, some hours will contain the full conclusion texts whereas others will not. With Matins, the minimal red print rubrics do a poor job of instructing what responsories should be said (e.g., do I say the seasonal and ignore the psalter responsory?). Again, a lot of this could have been remedied by simply including a short ordinary with instructions for all the hours and how to incorporate seasonal changes. Furthermore, there are issues with the antiphons – some hours will have them all in place, others will not. Sometimes random antiphons will just be inserted in the middle of two psalms. In other hours, the antiphons at the beginning of an hour are one or two words, but at the conclusion they are full-blown antiphons. It’s just so inconsistent. The hour of Lauds (Morning Prayer) doesn’t even have the Benedictus inserted into the hour. This seems odd as the Benedictus (Lauds), Magnificat (Vespers), and Nunc Dimittis (Compline) are staple prayers in the Roman Breviary and LOTH. I could go through more, but I hope I’ve captured the essence of my grievances. There is so much potential for this Office; however, it requires a republication after the arrangement and content is thoroughly reviewed by editors familiar with the Roman Breviary.