The new Universalis app; Lumen Christ Hymnal; St Dunstan's Psalter plus the Way of Beauty psalm tones.
I have recently travelled to England again and as usual had to decide what books I could pack into my suitcase. I couldn't put even one of the volumes of the British Liturgy of the Hours in - to cumbersome to be travelling with and likely to get damaged as I take it in and out of the suitcase seven times a day!
So I brought the following with me:
The Universalis app: just before travelling I discovered that Universalis now have an app, which means I could download it onto my smartphone and get an Office at any time and anywhere without accessing the internet. This didn't appear in the photo above because my smart phone is also my camera! Get it here.
The Lumen Christi Hymnal: this is a great resource, carefully compiled by Adam Bartlett. Elegant translations of the traditional Latin Office hymns that are translated so that they fit ancient modal tunes. Hymns for the four weekly cycle of the Office, for the main feasts of the calendar and for the commons. There is enough repetition that you get a chance to learn things, but enough variation so that you don't get bored. If you can't sight read (like me), then here's another use for the smart phone. I downloaded a keyboard app and use that to tap out the melodies when I am learning them. Get it here. My review of this book is here.
The St Dunstan's Psalter If you can squeeze this in it is well worth it. This is the translation of the psalms used by the Anglican Ordinariate and so is more poetic English, lovely to sing. Also, it is set out for singing with pointing and includes all the parts of the psalter missing from the Paul VI psalter - the cursing psalms (you can read about this in a past article - What Has Happened to all the *#@!-ing Psalms. I want my little daughter, who is just three, to hear me sing these psalms so that the higher level of language might make an impression on her. So if I have the time, I use this translation.
The Way of Beauty Psalm Tones I printed these off (as in the pdf you can get on this website) and put the print out in a grey folder. I sing the psalms to these each day. As a result I am constantly developing and, I hope, improving them, as I sing them.
