The Worth Revisiting post below (first published two years ago on the blog Principium et Finis) is the second of a series on the Liturgy of the Hours as a devotion for lay people. To enjoy the work of other faithful Catholic bloggers see Worth Revisiting Wednesday, hosted by Elizabeth Reardon at theologyisaverb.com and Allison Gingras at reconciledtoyou.com.
In last week's post I talked about how praying the Liturgy of the Hours (also known as the Divine Office) has had a profound impact on both my prayer life and my spiritual state in general. I promised to expand upon the Liturgy of the Hours itself and offer some suggestions on how it might be incorporated into the lives of busy laypeople in subsequent posts.
First of all, what is the Liturgy of the Hours? It traces its origins back to the very earliest days of the Church, and before that to the formal prayer of the Jewish Temple [for more information, see here and here]. It consists mostly of Psalms, canticles (that is, Biblical songs from books other than Psalms) and other scriptural readings, prayed at assigned times (the “Canonical Hours”). Following this prayer routine allows us to“sanctify the day” by making prayer a constant feature and organizing principle of our daily routine.
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| "King David playing his harp", by Domenico Zampieri |
First of all, what is the Liturgy of the Hours? It traces its origins back to the very earliest days of the Church, and before that to the formal prayer of the Jewish Temple [for more information, see here and here]. It consists mostly of Psalms, canticles (that is, Biblical songs from books other than Psalms) and other scriptural readings, prayed at assigned times (the “Canonical Hours”). Following this prayer routine allows us to“sanctify the day” by making prayer a constant feature and organizing principle of our daily routine.
These are the Hours, along with their traditional and modern names:
Matins (Office of Readings) – traditionally during the night, now any time of day
Lauds (Morning Prayer) – sunrise
Terce (Mid-Morning Prayer) – third hour of the day
Sext (Midday Prayer) – sixth hour of the day, i.e., noon
None (Mid-Afternoon Prayer) – ninth hour of the day
Vespers (Evening Prayer) – toward evening
Compline (Night Prayer) – nightfall, or before retiring
Matins was traditionally conducted during the night. Today, as the Office of Readings, it can be prayed at any time of day (in other words, it is no longer necessary to interrupt your sleep). In addition to three Psalm readings there is also a longer Biblical reading and a non-scriptural reading, either from the writings of the saints, or the lives of the saints, or magisterial documents of the Church.
Lauds and Vespers are the “hinges” of the Divine Office, the most important prayer periods after the Office of Readings. They are longer than the others and include two well-known Gospel Canticles: the Benedictus, or Canticle of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-80) at Morning Prayer (“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel . . .”) and the Magnificat, or Canticle of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) in the Evening (“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord . . ."). They contain in addition two Psalm readings, a non-Gospel Biblical canticle, antiphons, responsories and the Our Father.
Compline is the final prayer of the day. It contains an examination of conscience, but is otherwise shorter than Lauds and Vespers, with only one or two psalms and a short Gospel Canticle, the Nunc Dimittis, or Canticle of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32) (“Now you let your servant go in peace . . ."). It ends with a brief Marian prayer.
Terce, Sext, and None are collectively known as Daytime Prayer. These are shorter than the other offices, containing only three psalm readings and a short scripture reading. Since the most recent reforms of the Office they are set up so that even if you pray only one of them a day along with Readings, Lauds, Vespers and Compline, you will have seen the entire Psalter (i.e., Book of Psalms) over the course of a four week cycle.
Along with the Mass, The Liturgy of the Hours forms the public liturgical prayer of the church. Clergy and religious, and certain lay persons under vows, are required to say these prayers every day (hence the name Divine Office, from the Latin officium, which means “duty”). These prayers are not the exclusive preserve of priests and nuns, however. Paul VI, in the Apostolic Constitution promulgated in 1970 on the Liturgy of the Hours [full text here] says:
The Office has therefore been composed so that it is the prayer not only of the clergy but of the whole of the People of God, and religious and lay people can take part in it, and there are various forms of celebration so that it can be accommodated to the various groups, with their differing needs. Since the Liturgy of the Hours should sanctify the different times of the day, in its revised form it can be fitted into the actual hours of people’s daily lives.
So, while those who pray the Office under obligation are also obliged to follow certain norms in doing so, the Church is inviting the rest of us to pray along with them in the way best suited to our state in life and our other responsibilities. I will offer some suggestions, and reflect on my own experience, in my next post on this topic.
To read the whole series go here.
To read the whole series go here.
Below are some resources for anyone interested in exploring the Liturgy of the Hours -
Websites:
Universalis.com – This was the first website I encountered with the text of the LOH. It does have the full text of all the daily prayers, although in the free version available online many of the translations are not the approved ones. On the plus side, you can now select parallel English and Latin texts, and the Latin, of course, is the original from which the translations come. You can pay for a fairly inexpensive App that does use the approved translations, and a number of other extra features.
Ebreviary.com – Full texts of all the prayers, which are designed so that they can be printed as booklets to use in communal pryer – but you need to buy a subscription.
Divineoffice.org – My favorite LOH website. It contains the full approved translations of most of the canonical hours (although there is only one hour for Daytime Prayer). There are also audio versions of each hour which include recorded hymns and recitation of the prayers, either spoken or chanted.
Books:
There are various one-volume books entitled Christian Prayer that contain most of the Liturgy of the Hours.
A very popular choice is this one [here], although it is not complete (particularly the Office of Readings), and hasn’t been updated since 1976.
I prefer this one [here] from the Daughters of St. Paul, which contains everything except the long readings from the Office of Readings (these are available on the websites listed above). It also dates from 1976, however, and, even worse, seems to be out of print. I spoke recently with some of the Daughters of St. Paul, and they tell me that a new edition will be in the works once new translations of the LOH (along the same lines as the new translation of the Mass) are available.
A very popular choice is this one [here], although it is not complete (particularly the Office of Readings), and hasn’t been updated since 1976.
I prefer this one [here] from the Daughters of St. Paul, which contains everything except the long readings from the Office of Readings (these are available on the websites listed above). It also dates from 1976, however, and, even worse, seems to be out of print. I spoke recently with some of the Daughters of St. Paul, and they tell me that a new edition will be in the works once new translations of the LOH (along the same lines as the new translation of the Mass) are available.
The Gold Standard is the four-volume Liturgy of the Hours [here]. It’s all there, but it’s a significant financial investment.
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