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Note: for a more general discussion of the Christian prayer of the Hours, see Canonical hours.

The Liturgy of the Hours, (Latin: liturgia horarium) is the official prayer of the Catholic church outside the Mass, and is the liturgical embodiment of the Canonical hours of the Church. It is prayed by both Eastern and Western Catholics, Orthodox, Oriental, and Coptic Churches.

Liturgy of the Hours is the name used for the Divine Office after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, and typically refers to the editions of 1975 and 2000. The American English translation uses the name Liturgy of the Hours; the most popular Commonwealth English translation retains the name Divine Office. Some religious orders within the Latin Rite have their own versions of the Divine Office, including the Benedictines and Carthusians.

The Code of Canon Law says of the Liturgy of the Hours:

In the liturgy of the hours, the Church, hearing God speaking to his people and recalling the mystery of salvation, praises him without ceasing by song and prayer and intercedes for the salvation of the whole world.

At prescribed times throughout the day, psalms and prayers from the Psalter are recited or sung privately, in common, or in choir. The Liturgy of the Hours is most common among the clergy and religious orders; ordained clergy are required by canon law to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, while members of religious orders are bound by the constitution of their order. The Second Vatican Council exhorted the Christian faithful to take up the practice, and as a result, many lay people have begun reciting portions of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Traditional Hours

The Liturgy of the Hours has undergone a vast transformation since the Second Vatican Council. The Liturgy dating from before the Council was similar to that established at the Council of Trent. This stipulated that 8 "Hours" (or Offices) be said by the secular clergy and religious each day. This was itself following the stipulations of St. Benedict's Rule, which laid down the following Offices:
  • Matins (during the night)
  • Lauds or Morning Prayer (at Dawn)
  • Prime or Early morning prayer (the First Hour = 6am)
  • Terce or Mid-morning Prayer (the Third Hour = 9am)
  • Sext or Mid-day Prayer (the Sixth Hour = 12pm)
  • None or Mid-afternoon Prayer (the Ninth Hour = 3 pm)
  • Vespers or Evening Prayer (at the lighting of the lamps)
  • Compline or Night Prayer (before retiring)

In the traditional Divine Office, the Psalms are numbered according to the system used in the Septuagint.

Matins was intended to be nocturnal in character, as witnessed by the "rising out of sleep" theme of many of the hymns sung at that Hour. The design of this scheme of prayer was to be in fulfillment of the scriptures "Seven times a day do I praise you" (Ps. 118:164) and "In the middle of the night I arose to glorify You" (Ps. 118:62). However, Benedict's scheme was taken from that described by John Cassian, in his works (Conferences and Institutes) detailing Monastic practices in the East. Here, Prime did not exist until it was observed that some monks were going back to bed after Lauds, instead of attending to their work or their study. And so Prime was introduced in order to prevent this from happening.

Similarly, in the Tridentine Breviary (and in fact up until the reforms of the Second Vatican Council), Matins and Lauds were always said "conjoined" (together), except on Christmas, when the Mass at Midnight was said between these Offices.

The structure of the Hours was varied, but balanced. Matins (the longest hour) began with words "Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall announce your praise" followed by an antiphon and the Invitatory Psalm: Psalm 94 from the Vulgate and Septuagint - which is equivalent to Psalm 95 in the Hebrew - "Venite exultemus Domino", meaning "Come, let us sing to the Lord". This was then followed by a hymn, and 3 "Nocturns" consisting of 3 Psalms each, with Lessons from Scripture and concerning the Saint celelbrated on the day. On Major festivals, the ninth (and final) Lesson was concluded by the singing of Te Deum, an ancient hymn of thanksgiving to God dating possiby from St. Ambrose of Milan.

Lauds and Vespers share an analogous structure, consisting of the Opening Versicles (O God, make speed to save us etc.), followed by at Lauds 4 Psalms and a Canticle (from the Old Testament) and at Vespers 5 Psalms, with antiphons. These are followed by a Capitulum or "Little Chapter" from Scripture, a hymn, and a brief response to the Chapter. There then follows the singing of the Benedictus at Lauds, or the Magnificat at Vespers: the great New Testament canticles of the God's salvation. On some days there followed Preces or prayers, and then the Office concluded.

Terce, sext and none had identical structure. They began with the opening versicles and a hymn, followed by three Psalms with antiphons. There was then a Capitulum and Response, followed by the Lesser Litany (Kyrie and the Lord's Prayer), followed by the Conclusion of the Office.

Prime and Compline also shared highly similar structures, which were yet different from that of terce, sext and none (the other 'little' offices).

This older liturgy is by no means obsolete, with some contemplative religious orders continuing to use this system in their daily prayer.

Modern Practice

The Second Vatican Council introduced a widespread reform of the Liturgy of the Hours (as it was thereafter designated). While this is distinctly different from what preceded it, it is in no way less balanced or ordered. In addition, many of the complicated Rubrics (or instructions) printed in the Breviarium Romanum were simplified, so that the actual method of praying the office became simpler. The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours (Roman Catholic) designates the following "hours" as currently required of all Roman Catholic clergy, and recommended to all Roman Catholics:
  • Invitatory (not an hour properly called, but the introduction to the first hour said on the current day, whatever that might be).
  • Morning Prayer (Lauds; prayed at sunrise or in the early morning)
  • Midday Prayer (compilation of Terce, Sext, and None; prayed anywhere from late morning to early afternoon)
  • Evening Prayer (Vespers; prayed in the evening, around six o'clock or sunset)
  • Night Prayer (Compline; prayed before retiring)
  • Office of Readings (Matins/Vigils; prayed any time during the day, but preferably in the nocturnal hours for religious in Choir)

Previously, all 150 Psalms would be said during the course of a week; under the new system, 148 Psalms (excluding two imprecatory Psalms and some verses of others) are said during a four-week cycle.

The Liturgy of the Hours were revised in the typical Latin edition of 2000 (Latin: Liturgia Horarum, editio typica altera), but there is no official English-language translation; the version of 1975 remains standard. The older version is known for having many popular songs of that era.

While all of the traditional hours are no longer required, many clerics continue to follow the traditional schedule, and provision is made for this. The hour of "Prime" however has been suppressed in the Liturgy of the Hours, and is only maintained by some religious orders. Religious orders are bound by the rules of their order, and therefore have differing schedules and practices, a common modificiation is to extend the Office of Readings with additional readings, typically from the canonical two to four readings.

See also

External links

Catholic Liturgical Prayer

Horas canónicas | Liturgia delle ore | Divinum Officium | getijde (gebed) | Tidebønn | Ofício Divino | Ofice crustin

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Liturgy of the hours".

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