Q: If a bishop presides at morning or evening prayer when incense is not in use, does he hold the pastoral staff during the Magnificat?

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A: The Ceremonial of Bishops isn’t clear on this. At no. 203 it says he puts incense in the censer and then wears the miter during the canticle. But it doesn’t say anything about the pastoral staff when there is no incense.

One would logically conclude that one reason it is not mentioned is that he cannot manage the staff while adding incense to the charcoal and incensing the altar.

The Magnificat comes directly from the gospel, people stand for it, and it begins with the sign of the cross—elements we associate with the proclamation of the gospel at Mass.

However, at Mass, only a deacon or priest may read the gospel, and at the Liturgy of the Hours, everyone sings or says the passage. Nor is there a gospel acclamation or greeting before the Magnificat.

So I think you could argue it either way. Yes, he may hold the pastoral staff since he typically does that during the proclamation of the gospel at Mass (CB 141), or no, he does not because this isn’t Mass.