Matthew Kudija

Home About Notes Reading Notes

Ascension vs Word on Fire—Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition

Published: 2025-10-22-Wed
Updated: 2025-11-13-Thu

On October 7, 2025, Ascension and Word on Fire announced that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) had selected them as publishers of the new Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition. The Second Edition will be published on February 10, 2027 (Ash Wednesday) alongside the new Catholic American Bible. This marks the first time in fifty years that the Church's official daily prayer will be updated in English, and the first time it will be offered by two publishers. This is an exciting renewal of the Church's prayer.

My first reaction when I heard that Ascension and Word on Fire had been chosen for this important project was joy that we would assuredly be given beautiful breviaries. My breviary is the one book I use multiple times every day. I rotate through several well-loved Bibles, but my breviary—whichever volume we are on—is nearly always with me. I look forward to praying with these new editions.

---

Contents

• The Liturgy of the Hours
• The Second Edition
• Ascension
• Word on Fire
• Comparison & Recommendation
• An Invitation

The Liturgy of the Hours

The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office, is an official liturgy of the Church. After the Mass, it is the highest form of prayer of the Church. "The public and communal prayer of the people of God is rightly considered among the first duties of the Church".¹ As Fr. Mike Schmitz recently pointed out,² a priest doesn't make a vow to pray the Mass every day, but he does made a vow to pray the Divine Office every day. Vatican II encouraged the laity to pray the Divine Office.³

The Second Edition

The First Edition of the Liturgy of the Hours has been published in the United States since 1975-1976 by the Catholic Book Publishing Corp.

The 2025 publication of the Second Edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, then, is the first updated translation in English approved by the USCCB in fifty years. The USCCB gives this information on their page dedicated to the second edition:

In November 2012, the U.S. Bishops voted to revise the translation of the Liturgy of the Hours in light of the Roman Missal, Third Edition and the 2001 Vatican document Liturgiam authenticam. The approval process was completed in November 2024, and on May 29, 2025, the USCCB transmitted the completed manuscript of the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition to the Holy See for confirmation. (USCCB)

The USCCB is also in the process of issuing an updated translation of the New American Bible Revised Edition. When these updates are complete, we can look forward to a more accurate and unified English translation across the Church's liturgies in the Roman Missal, Lectionary for Mass, and Divine Office.

Ascension

Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition - Ascension

Ascension announced a full line-up of premium, standard, and large-print editions, and their website includes a number of details and photos. Overall, the standard and large-print editions appear to be analogous to the existing editions from CBPCorp., designed by 2K/DENMARK and with higher-quality materials. The premium edition with a goatskin leather cover will be a substantial improvement over existing options.

The premium edition has some noticeable yapp (cover extending over the text block) in the above photo. These look to be beautiful and well-crafted breviaries and include a handsome box, though I would store these horizontally given the yapp.

The standard edition also appears to come with a display box, which should be suitable for storing these with negligible yapp. From a practical standpoint, though, the storage box might be better with only three bays, as one of the volumes will always be out and about in service. I am curious to see what material the cover is on the standard edition and how rigid it is.

This is the only photo I have seen of the interior layout of the Ascension edition, and it does not give much of an indication of what to expect. However, I am optimistic that it will be beautiful and easy to navigate having been designed by 2K/DENMARK. The Great Adventure Bible was greatly improved from the first edition to the second edition designed by 2K/DENMARK.⁴ The product page indicates it will include artwork that is "timeless in character and deeply rooted in Catholic tradition, enriching prayer without distraction". I'm also curious to see what the "subtle navigational tabs" are like and if they are as useful as the tabs in the Great Adventure Bible.

The two photos above seem to show different colored ribbons: first brightly colored ribbons similar to the first edition, and second more muted colors that are more becoming of a prayer book. I hope the final product includes these ribbons with muted colors.

The size of the Ascension second edition looks to be comparable to the first edition and an ideal size for holding in the hand to pray: not too large in height and width, and thick if needs to be.

This photo shows the standard edition (top) as compared to the premium edition (bottom). You can clearly see from this photo the semi-yapp on the premium edition, which is a welcome improvement but also illustrates why the premium edition should be stored horizontally like this rather than vertically in a display box.

One small critique from the initial photos of the Ascension second edition is how busy the spine is. CBPCo.'s initial American Interim Breviary: Prayer of Christians of 1971, temporarily issued while the final translation work was completed after Vatican II, had "CATHOLIC BOOK PUBLISHING COMPANY" on the spine. Thankfully, this was removed in the production edition of 1975 and onward, giving a simple and dignified spine. I hope Ascension may take a cue from their predecessor and move toward a simpler spine without the Ascension logo—it adds nothing, but it does detract from an otherwise dignified presentation.

Overall, Ascension looks to have approached this project with the rigor and zeal that characterize their Bible and Catechism, and the Ascension Liturgy of the Hours will be a great addition in that line-up.⁵

Word on Fire

Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition - Word on Fire

The Word on Fire announcement included a short video from Bishop Barron, but otherwise did not give many details. From the photos that were released, though, we are sure to get a beautiful second edition from Word on Fire.

The exterior is simple and dignified. The leather looks similar—if not identical—to that used on the Word on Fire Bible, with a deep, beautiful grain. Word on Fire's restraint on the spine creates an august appearance: we see only the title, an IHS monogram, and the volume number.

I am curious from this photo if the thickness is representative of the production volumes. I am surprised by how thin these look, which implies a less-desirable larger layout. However, I suspect this may just be a sample photo given that the thickness is uniform, when we expect natural variation in thickness between volumes. I am curious to see the final dimensions and how they compare to the first edition.

The selection of muted colors for the ribbons adds to the dignified presentation of the Word on Fire second edition.

The layout appears to be similar to that used in the Word on Fire Liturgy of the Hours booklets. The red accents are replaced with gold, some prayers are abbreviated (i.e. "Our Father" rather than the whole prayer), and historical names for the offices are used (i.e. "Vespers I" rather than "Evening Prayer"). One small question presents itself with the line "Psalms and canticles from Sunday, Week I, 000": I suspect the "000" is a placeholder because the whole volume is not yet typeset, but it would be a usability improvement if Sunday Week I psalms were placed somewhere convenient due to their frequent use on feasts.

Above is the current first edition on the left, and the Word on Fire Liturgy of the Hours booklet on the right (standing in for the Word on Fire second edition because of their similarity until I have one to compare in person). The first edition has a large typeface that mostly fills the page, whereas Word on Fire includes marginal titles that create more whitesapce. This appears to be one downside for the legibility vs. portability tradeoff of the Word on Fire layout, which is of utmost importance in a breviary. We will need to see the final product to fully evaluate it, and to compare it against the Ascension edition.

Bishop Barron shared a heartfelt reflection on the Liturgy of the Hours in the announcement video from Word on Fire in which he called his breviary as one of his most treasured possessions. He closed with his aspirations for the project: "We hope to draw countless more into the Church's ancient prayer...I truly believe this project will spark a renewal of the Church's daily prayer, restoring the Divine Office to the heart of Catholic life." Word on Fire's excellence in wielding beauty for evangelization and the renewal of the Church is characteristically present in this Liturgy of the Hours.

Comparison & Recommendation

The below table summarizes the key features of the current first edition as compared with the two forthcoming second editions. A number of important details for selecting a second edition, including cost, are yet to be announced. I will update this with further details as they become available and include a recommendation for choosing between them.

I look forward to holding both editions in hand and offering a detailed side-by-side review with a focus on layout, craftsmanship, and usability for daily prayer.

	CBPCorp. (Current)	Ascension	Word on Fire
Editions	Bonded Leather ($209) Imitation Leather ($174)	Premium (\$?) Standard (\$?) Large Print (\$?)	Premium Goatskin ($?)
Printed In	Korea	China	Italy
Binding	Smyth-sewn Paste-off binding	Smyth-sewn Edge-lined binding (Premium) Paste-off binding (Standard)	Smyth-sewn Paste-off binding?
Typesetting	CBPCo	2K/DENMARK	WOF
Typeface	Goudy Old Style (10.5 pt)	?	Trinité No. 2 (size?)
Dimensions	4.75" x 7" x 1.25" (Vol. I) to 1.75" (Vol. II)	? x ? x ?	? x ? x ?

An Invitation

Ascension and Word on Fire bring their distinctive strengths to this project, and I see this project as a renewal of the Divine Office that will draw many more into the Church's daily prayer. But there's no need to wait for the Second Edition to be available: I would like to close with an invitation to pray the Liturgy of the Hours with the Church now. If you already pray one or two hours, think about adding one more. If you have never prayed the Liturgy of the Hours before, here is how to start:

• Go to Sing the Hours right now and listen as Paul Rose guides you in praying whatever office is appropriate: Lauds (Morning Prayer) if it is before noon, Vespers (Evening Prayer) if it is after noon, or Compline if you are going to bed soon. Stop what you are doing and pray.
• If you want more now, spend something like $9 per month to get the monthly Liturgy of the Hours booklets, or $22 to get Shorter Christian Prayer which has everything you need to pray the primary hours of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer.
• Get the Ascension or Word on Fire Second Edition when released. I will add more details here to compare the two as they become available.