the.com/breviary
A pocket-sized guilt trip, recited daily so monks don't forget to feel small.
means A book of psalms, hymns, and readings that clergy and some laypeople recite at set hours each day.
from From Latin breviarium, 'summary' or 'abridgment,' itself from brevis, 'short' — the same root that gives us 'brief' and 'abbreviate.' The irony is real: a breviary is the 'short version' of monastic prayer, condensing the full cycle of psalms and offices into something a monk could actually carry and get through in a day, rather than drowning in unabridged devotion.
- contains
- psalms, hymns, prayers for every canonical hour
- etymology
- latin brevis, meaning short, ironically
- usage
- replaced by Liturgy of the Hours in 1971
- daily hours
- traditionally recited seven times a day