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Encyclopedia > Daily office
The Liturgy of the Hours is usually recited in full in monastic communities.
The Liturgy of the Hours is usually recited in full in monastic communities.

Note: for a more general discussion of the Christian prayer of the Hours, see Canonical hours. made it myself This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... made it myself This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... The Tikse monastery in Ladakh, India A monastery is the habitation of monks, derived from the Greek word for a hermits cell. ... Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time, developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round (also called offices). Canonical hours also refer to the official set of prayer of the Roman Catholic Church that is known variously as the Liturgy of the...


The Liturgy of the Hours, (Latin: liturgia horarium) is the official prayer of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church outside the Mass, and is the liturgical embodiment of the Canonical hours of the Church. Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article (The Latin Rite), is a term by which documents of the Catholic Church designate the particular Church, distinct from the Eastern Rite Churches, that developed in western Europe and northern Africa, where Latin was the language of... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Mass is the term used of the celebration of the Eucharist in the various liturgical rites of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, and in some Lutheran regions which are largely High Church: the main Lutheran service is still known as the... Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time, developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round (also called offices). Canonical hours also refer to the official set of prayer of the Roman Catholic Church that is known variously as the Liturgy of the...


Liturgy of the Hours is the name used for the Divine Office or Breviary 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 Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, (Vatican two) was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Catholic religious orders are organizations of laity and/orclergy in the Roman Catholic Church who live under a common rule. ... The longest lasting of the western Catholic monastic orders, the Benedictine Order traces its origins to the adoption of the monastic life by St. ... A Carthusian Monastery in Jerez, Spain The Carthusians are a Christian religious order founded by St Bruno in 1084. ...


The Code of Canon Law says of the Liturgy of the Hours: In Western culture, canon law is the law of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. ...


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. The Roman Psalter is a four week compilation of the psalms and liturgical prayers and readings that accompany the Liturgy of the hours. ... A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... Catholic religious orders are organizations of laity and/orclergy in the Roman Catholic Church who live under a common rule. ... The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, (Vatican two) was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ...

Contents


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)

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. For the Anglican service of Mattins see Morning Prayer Matins is the early morning prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ... Lauds is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. ... Prime is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office, said at 6 a. ... Terce is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Sext is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ... Compline or Complin is the final church service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. ...


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 Dawn Mass 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 the Invitatory: Psalm 94 (O come let us sing to the Lord) with an antiphon. 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. Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. ...


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. The Benedictus, given in Luke 1:68-79, is one of the three great canticles in the opening chapters of this Gospel, the other two being the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis. ... Sandro Boticelli. ...


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 to shared highly similar structures, which were yet differenct from that of terce, sext and none (the other 'little' offices).


This older liturgy is by no means obsolete, Traditional Catholic organizations, some of them new, use this system in their daily prayer. Traditional Catholic is a broad term used to describe many groups of Roman Catholics who follow more traditional aspects of the Catholic Faith. ...


Modern Practice

The Second Vatican Council introduced a widespread reform of the Liturgy of the Hours (as it was then named). 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)

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. The Invitatory is a psalm, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text , used to start Matins in the Divine Office. ... Matins is the morning prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ... Matins is the morning prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ...


See also

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... Catholic religious orders are organizations of laity and/orclergy in the Roman Catholic Church who live under a common rule. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. ... Mass is the term used of the celebration of the Eucharist in the various liturgical rites of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, and in some Lutheran regions which are largely High Church: the main Lutheran service is still known as the...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Divine Office (1337 words)
This expression signifies etymologically a duty accomplished for God; in virtue of a Divine precept it means, in ecclesiastical language, certain prayers to be recited at fixed hours of the day or night by priests, religious, or clerics, and, in general, by all those obliged by their vocation to fulfil this duty.
The usage in France of the expression "saint-office" as synonymous with "office divin" is not correct.
At all events, during the course of the fifth century, the Office was composed, as to-day, of a nocturnal Office, viz.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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