Lauds is one of the two "major hours" in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. It is to be recited in the early morning hours, preferably near dawn.

Structure of the hour

Since the Second Vatican Council, Lauds has the following structure:

• A short introductory verse (unless it is being prayed immediately after the Invitatory or Office of Readings)
• A hymn, which is optional when combining with the Office of Readings
• A morning psalm, an Old Testament canticle, and a psalm of praise. These are introduced and closed by antiphons.
• A short reading with a responsorial verse
• The Benedictus, with its antiphon
• Intercessions
• The Lord's Prayer
• Closing prayer
• Blessing and dismissal (if prayed in community)

All psalms and canticles are closed with the doxology, "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was is the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen." (The current translation of the US Bishops' Conference, given here, differs from the traditional English translation used in other countries.) The psalms and readings are distributed in a four-week cycle, which forms the heart of the prayer.

Variations

On feast days, the various parts of the hour may be taken from the office of the saint being celebrated or from common texts for the saints. If the feast has the rank of "memorial", any parts specifically provided for the saint (the "proper" parts) are used, while the other parts come from the weekday, with exception of the hymn (which may be optionally taken from the common texts), the antiphon for the Benedictus (which must be taken from the proper or the common), the intercession (which may be optionally taken from the common texts), and the closing prayer (which should be proper, or if missing, common).

For a "feast" or solemnity, all texts are taken from the proper, or if some part is missing, from the common. On these days, the morning psalm is always Psalm 63, verses 2-9, the canticle is the "Song of the Three Holy Children" (Daniel 3:57-88 and 56), and the psalm of praise is Psalm 149.

In the important seasons of the Church year, such as Lent or Easter, many of the prayers are proper for each day of the season. In Lent, Christmas, Holy Week, Easter Week, and the last eight days of Advent, celebration of feast days is somewhat restricted. On some of these days, a memorial may be celebrated as a "commemoration", adding an extra prayer at the end of the hour, while on others the memorial is completely removed from the calendar.