The result of this, unfortunately, is that people don't become familiar with the many extraordinary texts that are part, in particular, of the Vespers and Matins services. So while I know what you say is probably accurate, I don't necessarily agree that it is entirely desirable, especially in a country of high literacy. And most churches don't do daily Vespers or Matins, so there's no way for a lay person to become exposed to these texts except by personal initiative. I don't know any printed prayer book that contains enough to say either Vespers or Matins adequately. Nothing wrong with a good prayer book, they're just not meant for that use.
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Dear Hermogenes:
We have strayed a bit from the topic. I only know Fr. Laurence's
Unabbreviated Horologion from Jordanville, which I like because it
is unabbreviated, i.e., it doesn't use the customary abbreviations of the Church Slavonic editions, which could be a stumbling block for those less familiar with the service texts. Also, I belong to ROCOR, so the texts are the same as those I hear in church, which I think would be a consideration for a lot of people - which version is used in their parish? Perhaps the St. Tikhon's edition also avoids abbreviations, but I haven't seen it. As for the Holy Transfiguration Monastery edition, I try to avoid using their products, on principle.
To return briefly to the question of an Eastern Orthodox "breviary", I'm not against such an idea in theory - I just don't see how one could even be created in practice. the Horologion alone is a pretty hefty volume, then there is the Octoechos (another four volumes), the Menaion (13 large volumes, if you include the General Menaion), not to mention the Triodion and the Pentecostarion. All of these combine in virtually an infinite variety of ways when the Paschal cycle is taken into account. The Kyriopascha, which we last had in 1991, when Pascha coincides with the Annunciation, won't occur again until 2075.
Of course, while not portable, we are fortunate that, within the past decade, all of the books needed to perform the full cycle of services in English are now readily available to anyone. So people
can avail themselves of all the liturgical texts to study outside of the services, if they so desire. However, I would cynically observe that most people's thirst for a knowledge of the liturgical texts does not extend to attending Saturday night vigil, let alone investing in the service books themselves.
Moreover, I think we have to ask ourselves the question: What are the Church's traditions regarding the prayer life of individuals? In this area, the Church is not very specific, due, I think, to the great disparities in literacy and circumstances that must be taken into consideration. We have the modern prayer books, which are excellent for teaching the basic prayers (and which are also relatively easy to memorize) and then we have the more ancient level of the Psalter and the Jesus Prayer, together with reading the Scriptures and the Lives of the Saints.
Most of the liturgical texts consist of poetic meditations on or allusions to Scripture, especially the Psalms, as well as the Lives of the Saints. If we have not familiarized ourselves with them beforehand, how can we fully appreciate the texts of the services when we encounter them? Again, perhaps I am overly cynical, but, in my experience, the vast majority of even regular churchgoers have never read the Gospels, let alone the Psalter or the Lives of the Saints. So, it would seem that the Church's emphasis on just those elements for the prayer life of individuals suits our spiritual needs better than trying to emulate what is, after all, a post-schism Roman Catholic devotional practice.
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Yes, it would be a pretty big logistical headache, and no guarantee anyone would even want it, since we Orthodox tend to stick with what we've "always done," no matter how well or poorly it works. I want to be clear, though: I am most definitely not trying to emulate anything Catholic. I just always find myself wishing as I lay out the five or six volumes I'll need for the evening's Vespers service that I could just use one book with everything in it. The multivolume approach seems almost guaranteed to produce distraction as it interrupts the flow of prayer. The RC breviaries are usually four volumes, btw, not just one book. They arrange them by season.
