Both Ascension Press and Word on Fire have announced that they will begin accepting pre-orders for the new Liturgy of the Hours Second Edition on July 1st. The first volume of the four-volume set will be released in time to be used on Ash Wednesday (February 10) of 2027. So far, Ascension Press has released far more information about the design of their volumes than Word on Fire. Here is a brief summary of the key points I’ve been able to glean from public announcements by each publisher:
Word on Fire
Most publicly available information is listed on Word on Fire’s dedicated Liturgy of the Hours website here.
Word on Fire will publish a 4-volume leather-bound set. It is currently unclear if there will be a large print edition or multiple leather options to choose from. Features will include:
- “Top-tier” leather
- Smyth-sewn binding
- Line-matched typesetting
- Artwork aligned with the liturgical seasons
- Richly colored ribbons (no confirmation of how many)
A Reddit user reportedly found sample images of the interior pages on Word on Fire’s website and posted them here. The images are similar to the single photo of the First Sunday of Advent on Word on Fire’s website, so they appear authentic. These images depict surprisingly wide margins and copious amounts of white space on the pages.
Members of the Word on Fire team have worked on sourcing leather and materials for the volumes and spent 10 days in Europe in February 2026 running preliminary print tests with vendors and printers.
All seminarians in the United States will receive a complimentary 4-volume set from Word on Fire thanks to the sponsorship of a generous donor.
Ascension Press
Ascension has released detailed information about their upcoming LoTH publication. Their overview webpage is located here. Features will include:
- Three cover options: Standard (bonded) Leather, Premium (goatskin) Leather, and Premium Natural Grain (goatskin) Leather
- Two font sizes: Standard Print (10 pt) and Large Print (12.41 pt)
- 36 gsm paper in the standard and premium leather editions, and 34 gsm French paper in the Premium Natural Grain edition
- Smyth-sewn, edge-lined binding
- 60 pieces of newly-commissioned artwork by artist Ruth Stricklin of New Jerusalem Studios in Phoenix, AZ
- 8 satin ribbons
- Custom font and typesetting by 2K/DENMARK
A 40-page sample of the interior layout is located here. The margins are noticeably less expansive (or enormous, depending on your perception) than the Word on Fire sample images.
Ascension has announced a Liturgy of the Hours assistance fund to help priests, religious, and seminarians who can demonstrate a financial need to receive a 4-volume LoTH set. Applications for assistance will be reviewed by a mixed panel of people from both Ascension Press and other individuals involved in ministry and leadership in the Church. Contributions can be made to the fund here.
Beginning on July 1st, preorders will be available for either the full 4-volume set or the first volume. If a person pre-orders the full 4-volume set, each volume will be shipped separately as it is released. The first volume is expected to ship in January 2027.
A full list of pricing is available on the Ascension website here (price list is currently near the bottom of the page). Here is an abbreviated summary of the pricing for the standard print complete set in the three cover options, just to give a flavor of the range of pricing:
Standard Bonded Leather: $264.99
Premium Goatskin Leather: $489.99
Premium Natural Grain Goatskin Leather: $909.99