The Mundelein Psalter

This is the book used for common prayer at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and I'm certainly glad it exists. The chants are simple and allow us to sing the pray of the Church. As far as tunes, the hymn selection is somewhat limited, but what is nice is that the hymns included all seem to be translated from the Latin version of the Liturgy of the Hours, something missing in current English translations. Hopefully the newer editions of the LotH will try to carry over the hymns from the Latin as well.The only complaint I often hear from others is that the chants do not change with the season. Lent will sound the same, Easter will sound the same, and so on. The book is rather big as it, so to include more chants would probably make it even heavier, so I'm not sure what a practical solution. The size of the book itself is also something that perhaps could have been scaled down for ease of carrying. All in all, this is a big step toward a common life of prayer in the Church. It will only get better.

Our parish used this for Lenten Friday Evening Prayer, 2014. The edition is beautiful; there are instructions that would fully assist a beginner; the psalm tones appear above each text, and the text is pointed for easy use. This "little" book makes Morning, Evening (and Night Prayer, though we didn't use those) simple and singable at a parish level. I highly recommend The Mundelein Psalter for those on the lookout for a basic, yet comprehensive psalter for regular or occasional parish use. Youtube recordings of the psalter in use can be found, which will give novices a chance to hear it in regular use, and so judge its potential for application to their liturgical needs.

This book is well suited to many uses -- for me, I can pray the Divine Office at home by myself, throughout the year in accordance with the Church seasons and calender. This lovely book includes full morning, evening, and night prayers. I also use on-line and Kindle app sources, but none compare to the comfort and beauty of this book (amazingly, in a well-organized single volume).

I have been using this a little more than a week, and have examined many parts of the book. Rather than repeat what others write, I shall merely second their high praise of this psalter, and write instead some things I've noticed that brought it down from my initial five star reaction. This may sound primarily negative as a result, but it's not.1. A few differences with what might be typical practice:1a) The prayers used for Sundays and Feast Days are from the 1971 ICEL translation, not the newer, translation.1b) The three antiphons for Sundays are labeled as "Year A," "Year B," and "Year C", but that is not how they are labeled in the current Breviary; rather, the current breviary uses what is labeled here as "Year A" for Evening Prayer I, what is labeled here as "Year B" for Morning Prayer, and what is labeled here as "Year C" for Evening Prayer II. On the one hand I am not sure if this is a nod towards the revision of the Latin typical edition, which now has separate antiphons for Years A, B, and C at each of First Vespers, Lauds, and Second Vespers, but it's rather an incomplete nod if so.1c) The style of chant used here is a much simpler style than that I've seen used elsewhere. It's actually quite nice, and they did a nice job adapting it to English, but it differs quite a bit from, for instance, Solesmes'  Psalterium Monasticum: Cum Canticis Novi & Vereris Testamenti (Latin and English Edition) . Likewise, the hymns differ somewhat from Solesmes'  Liber Hymnarius . If you're familiar with Solesmes' stuff, you won't find that here. I'm not saying what's here is better or worse; it's just different.2) The preface provides a convenient web link that contains additional information, such as sample chant files. Alas, that link now directs one to the homepage for Mundelein's Liturgical Institute. To find the additional information, you have to hunt around that website a while, and be patient, because some promising links actually take you offsite, to Liturgical Training Publications (e.g., if you want to browse "Hillenbrand Books"). I'm not sure I'm allowed to include the correct link in this review, so I won't, but I do want to assure interested parties that the webpage still exists -- be patient.3) The Psalm tones If and VIF are identical, at least to the singer. I have verified this by visiting the website and listening to the sample tones. Perhaps they sound different when harmonized with an organ, but to the singer there is no difference. I find this a letdown for regular use, as Tone VIF is always used for the responsory, which immediately precedes the Magnificat, which in weeks 1 and 3 uses Tone If, which is followed immediately by the intercessions, which use Tone VIF. (You should see this in the supplied photos, prescribed in the rubrics.) It becomes repetitive and tedious; I will probably keep Tone VIId for the Magnificat most of the time (it is prescribed for weeks 2 and 4). Meanwhile, other Psalm Tones supplied on p. 53 go completely unused despite their beauty (perhaps the year's progression will prove me wrong) but surely one of them could have been adapted instead of Tone If, or perhaps a different tone could have been used for the responsory in weeks 1 and 3. I am at least glad that they supplied the additional tones.4) I want to second a disappointment of others, namely the lack of notation for hymns on feast days and the like. But I also want to add the observation that they really could have done this. As with all Psalters, this one has a fair amount of repetition: the Magnificat, for instance, appears in the ordinary, on an insert, *and* on Sundays; the text for the daily hymns appears both on their respective pages *and* in a compendium at the end, where they are joined to music. All of Night Prayer is supplied, as well; personally, I would have preferred the music for those other hymns to an entire week for night prayer. The General Instruction (88) helpfully points out that one can use Sunday's Night Prayer on all days, so I wish they would have taken advantage of that flexibility.Given how massive this undertaking must have been, I have to say that these disappointments are minor. I have sung Lauds and Vespers every day since receiving this Psalter, something I had not done for two decades prior. This evening alone, I sang with my daughter, something I was never able to accomplish with an adaptation of the Solesmes Psalter. I do hope a second, updated edition emerges soon, and that its satisfied customers spread the word about this excellent product. The Church needs more of this!*Update*: I've been using this nearly daily for four months, and my original critiques seem to hold up well. I'd like to add one more: for the most part, the assignment of tones bears no relation to anything except the chant's chronological location in the office. So, in Weeks I and II, the first psam tone is always VIIIg, the second is always IIa (regardless of whether it's an OT Canticle or a Psalm), and the third is always Va (reglardless of whether it's a Psalm or a NT Canticle). On feasts and solemnities you'll be singing exactly the same tones as in Weeks I and III. This does not vary by liturgical seasons, either, so if you'd like a little variety, you'll have to devise it on your own. The one exception is the Office for the Dead, where things are a little different. The Psalm Tone used for Compline is also different, but curiously it doesn't appear in the "Alternate Psalm Tones" listed at the front. Finally, there is no guidance at all on how to choose alternate psalm tones. There are a few typos here and there, all minor (e.g., "worhsip").Again, I am very glad I purchased this; it has helped my prayer life quite a bit. I do hope they eventually publish an corrected and updated second edition with more hymns and advice for how to choose other psalm tones.

If you can read square notes (neumes) and like to sing them this might be the book for you. It accompanies the liturgy of the hours and has the music for all the hymns of Lauds and Vespers in English and some in Latin. Really like using it to sing these hours instead of only ever reading it as the Psalms were meant to be sung.

Divine Office is a ministry inviting everyone everywhere to join in praying the Liturgy of the Hours offering it freely in full-text and audio on the Net. About one year ago we discovered and began to use the Mundelein Psalter for all of the Hours of Sundays and most Solemnities. With tens of thousands of people praying with us daily we had an overwhelmingly positive response from our prayer community.Upon rare occasion there will be an antiphon that does not exactly match the four-volume Liturgy of the Hours by Catholic Book Publishing Corp, 1975, which is the official approved text for the diocese of the United States. These antiphons remain theologically equivalent as best as I can tell and they are beautiful when chanted.

Beautiful and lovingly crafted. I love how you can go to the website and hear what the psalm tones should sound like. This is a hefty book about the size of a hymnal. Should last me a lifetime.

I was so pleased with my original copy of this excellent edition of the Roman Liturgy of the Hoursthat I ordered this one as a gift for a friend.As usual Amazon made the transaction and delivery very user-friendly.

A must for all of those involved in Parish music and Seminary formation. Designed for the US market, it is transferable with quite a bit of work for other English speaking countries.