The Liturgy of the Hours, also know as the Divine Office, has been celebrated by the Church since ancient times, as she seeks to fulfill the Lord’s command to pray without ceasing. Ordained ministers of the Church (bishops, priests, and deacons) make a solemn promise to pray the Liturgy of the Hours during the ordination rite and, in fulfilling this promise, pray throughout the day not only for their own needs and needs known to them, but for the Church throughout the world. While clerics are obligated to prayer these hours, all Catholics are able, and in fact encouraged, to participate in this ancient prayer of the Church. Through the Liturgy of the Hours and the celebration of the Eucharist, the Church is always in prayer.
The origins of the Office can be seen in the Old Testament. God commanded the priests of Aaron’s lineage to offer a morning and evening sacrifice. During the exile, when the Temple lay in ruins, the people gathered for readings from the Torah, psalms, and hymns as a substitute for the Temple sacrifice. After the time of the Babylonian Exile, there was prayers at the Third (mid-morning), Sixth (mid-day) , and Ninth (mid-afternoon) hours of the day, which continued into early Christian communities, as seen in the Acts of the Apostles.
Early communities of monks, nuns and hermits developed their own version of this practice, varying from monastery to monastery. Some tried to pray the entire Psalter (150 Psalms) each day, but most eventually prayed the Psalter in a week-long cycle. One of the earliest practices of which we have a record is the Rule of St. Benedict, in which prayers were offered at Sunrise (called Lauds), Prime (1st hour of the day), Terce (3rd hour, or mid-morning), Sext (6th hour, or mid-day), None (9th hour, mid-afternoon), with Vespers offered at sunset. Compline was offered prior to retiring for the evening, and the monks rose during the night to pray as well (the Office of Matins, or Readings). The practice of the Divine Office was eventually adopted for use by the canons of cathedrals and other great churches in the Western world.
With the development of religious orders that were not confined to a monastery (such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits), there was a need to develop a form of the Divine Office that could easily be transported on one’s person. This smaller version, the Brevarium Curiae, was produced, and is the forerunner to what is today known as the Breviary, used by all deacons, priests, and bishops.
The revision of the Hours after Vatican II includes Morning Prayer (prayed around sunrise), Daytime Prayer (sometime during daytime hours after Morning Prayer), Evening Prayer (sunset), and Night Prayer (before bedtime), as well as the Office of Readings, which can be prayed at any time of day. While most of the Church uses the Roman Office, some religious orders have their own approved versions unique to their communities).
We hope that during our Forty Hours many of you will discover the beauty of this ancient prayer of the Church, perhaps even incorporating it into your daily lives.