Guidelines for Types of Content
We write and publish a lot of different types of content. Many liturgical works include many types of content within them. Let these guidelines help you approach the various types of content well. These instructions and guidance provide additional guidance beyond the general writing guidlines.
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This page is a work in Progress and will be filled in over time.
These Guidelines
Blessing
What is it:
A blessing is an invitation to engage with one or more realities of God. Each blessing is an invitation for us. An invitation to think, meditate, and hope in God. It is also a prayer and call to God. For God to be present and active with us in the spirit of the blessing. They are often used at the end of a communal time together. They can also be used on their own. A blessing focuses on God’s character and God’s relationship with creation, humanity, or us individually. It is not very common for a blessing to acknowledge a contemporary situation. Most are written to be more timeless, reflecting God’s timelessness. The text often draws on imagery and divine realities from the Bible. A secondary source is the history of the Church and the people of God. Sometimes they come directly from passages of scripture, but more often they do not.
- Does the blessing call upon, invoke, or point to at least one divine reality about God?
- Does the blessing have a clear and simple idea that it focuses on?
- Are there ways to reorder any of its phrases to make it more lyrical, or to improve its flow.
- The last line should always be “Amen.”
Blessing in Three Lines
What is it:
A blessing in three lines is a focused, short, and specific blessing. Its brevity allows it to more easily be remembered. To be repeated. To be meditated upon. It is as blessing in every other way. Within this short structure, it focuses on one simplified idea or concept. It should feel clear, concise, and cohesive. Each line should be a similar length. Its brevity makes them ideal for sharing, concluding meetings, and thinking about. After the three lines, the blessing ends with the word Amen on its own fourth line.
- Does it follow the guidelines for a Blessing?
- Check to see if the three lines are of a similar lengths.
- Does the text have simplicity in idea, visual, emotion, feeling, and spirit?
Breviary – Antiphons
What is it:
An antiphon is a short sentence or phrase used in the divine office. It pairs with a psalm or canticle. An antiphon frames that text. The antiphon appears twice. Once before it and again after the Gloria that follows it. They are a part of the schedule or a proper for a given season or saint. These antiphons frame their psalm or canticle. These often come from scripture, but not always.
- Check to see if the text has previously been translated. If it has, then use that translation.
- Check if the text is from the Bible. If it is, it should be close to the Nova Vulgata.
- If it is from the bible include a reference in the source text file. Include multiple references if they exist; they do not need to be word for word to be a reference.
- Some antiphons are associated with a liturgical year. In this case, we should prefer their associated gospels when selecting a reference text.
- Year A – Matthew
- Year B – Mark
- Year C – Luke
- Texts from the Bible should be translated from their critical source(s) and adapted to match the structure of the Latin antiphon. It is encouraged to translate surrounding verses to give yourself context in this process.
- Unless a biblical text is very well known, we should consider replacing key pronouns to give the reader more textual context.
- The Latin sources have midpoints that should be maintained in roughly the same location within the finished translations.
Breviary – Concluding Prayer
What is it:
A concluding prayer is at the end of each divine office. They are a part of the ordinary schedule and every proper. This allows the closing prayer to connect us with that day’s commemoration. On more important days, different offices may have different prayers. These often come from Latin. This source is often written in one long sentence and includes a dagger and a midpoint.
- Our first preference is to follow the flow and structure of the source text when one exists.
- The length and complexity of this prayer mean we will break it into multiple sentences.
- Attempt to structure the prayer to avoid repetition when possible.
- When translating from a source with a dagger and midpoint, they should be maintained. Place them in roughly the same location. They can appear in the middle of sentences and phrases.
- The final sentence should always be translated as ‘Through Jesus Christ.’
Concluding Prayer
What is it:
Each hour of the Divine Office has a concluding prayer. This aim of this prayer will change with the office or proper being prayed.
- Does the blessing call upon, invoke, or point to at least one divine reality about God?
- Does the blessing have a clear and simple idea that it focuses on?
- Are there ways to reorder any of its phrases to make it more lyrical, or to improve its flow.
- The last line should always be “Amen.”