FOR SCHOLARS & THEOLOGIANS

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi

The law of prayer is the law of belief. This app preserves pre-Vatican II liturgical texts with documented provenance—Vulgate Latin, Douay-Rheims English, and the theological content the reforms altered.

Documented sources · No fabrication · Complete texts

01

Primary Source Verification

Every text is verified against the original ecclesiastical document: Missale Romanum (1962), Breviarium Romanum, Raccolta (1910), or Rituale Romanum.

02

Translation Consistency

English translations use Douay-Rheims (1609) exclusively. No modern translations (NAB, Grail, ICEL). Archaic forms preserved.

03

Complete Texts

No truncation. Dies Irae includes all 72 lines. Litanies include every invocation. Psalms are complete, not excerpted.

04

Liturgical Context

Prayers maintain their liturgical context. Marian antiphons rotate by season per the 1962 Breviary. Votive days follow traditional assignment.

TRANSLATION PHILOSOPHY

Why Douay-Rheims?

Modern translations soften language, use inclusive pronouns, and avoid terms like "bowels" for visceribus. We preserve the register of pre-Vatican II English Catholic prayer.

VULGATE DOUAY-RHEIMS
miserere mei, Deus
have mercy on me, O God
dele iniquitatem meam
blot out my iniquity
in visceribus meis
in my bowels
cor mundum crea in me
create a clean heart in me

Archaic Pronouns

"Thy," "thee," "dost," "hath" maintained

Masculine Generics

No inclusive language modifications

Technical Vocabulary

"Sinners" not "those who have failed"

Purgatory Language

Explicit references preserved

PSALTERIVM Vulgate + Douay-Rheims (1609) 85 psalms
LITANIAE Raccolta (1910), Roman Ritual 6 litanies
PRO DEFVNCTIS Rituale Romanum, Missale Romanum 8 prayers
ORDINARIVM Catechismus Romanus, Church Fathers 30 prayers
PRO MILITIA Raccolta, Spiritual Exercises, Patristics 20 prayers
PRO EXAMEN Spiritual Exercises, Catechismus Romanus 24 prayers

Soteriology

Mass as propitiatory sacrifice, not "celebration of community." Merit and intercession emphasized, saints as active intercessors.

Eschatology

Dies Irae preserved in full. Judgment language explicit. Purgatory referenced directly ("animabus e purgatorii poenis").

Liturgical Calendar

Septuagesima, Passiontide, Ember Days, Rogation Days—all elements abolished 1969 are preserved in the 1962 structure.

Divine Office

All 8 canonical hours including Prime (abolished 1971). Full Office structure, not the abbreviated Liturgia Horarum.

Documented Authenticity

Every text verified. No fabrication. Scholarly grade.

In praeparatione