The 1985 revision of the Liturgy

After the major reforms of 1970, some additional revisions were made to the Liturgy of the Hours in 1985. English editions of the Liturgy do not yet include these revisions, because it would be so expensive to reprint the books; but the second Latin edition does. The following are the main changes, as summarised in the decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship dated 7 April 1985:

1. The New Vulgate translation of the Bible, formally adopted in 1979, replaces the previous translation of the biblical texts in the long and short readings of the Liturgy.
2. Certain texts in the old translation are omitted from the new one, or have a different meaning in the new translation. These have been replaced as necessary.
3. The psalm texts have similarly been revised according to the New Vulgate.
4. The responsories in the Office of Readings have been revised according to the New Vulgate, except where strong reasons exist for leaving them unchanged (long tradition, established music, liturgical significance).
5. Many new antiphons for the Benedictus and Magnificat have been added for Sundays and feast days, taken from the appropriate Gospels.
6. The hymns have been carefully revised.
7. The printed edition now contains verse numbers in all the readings and psalms.
8. The psalms are numbered according to both the Greek (Septuagint) and Hebrew numbering.
9. An additional appendix contains solemn blessings and acts of contrition taken from the Roman Missal.

Most of these changes concern the printed books only, or refer to parts of the Liturgy that this site does not yet contain; but we are using this second Latin edition as the basis of everything that we do.

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