The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church. These Hours are called 'little' due to their shorter and simpler structure compared to the Night Hours. Traditionally, these times of prayer include Prime, at 6 a.m., Terce at 9 a.m., Sext at noontime, and None at 3 p.m. These prayer times derive from ancient Jewish practice and are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles; the prayers consist mainly of psalms. The Liturgy of the Hours is particularly popular in monastic communities. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Catholic Church, known also as the Roman Catholic Church, is the Christian Church whose visible head is the Pope, currently Benedict XVI. It teaches that it is the one holy catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ, and that the sole Church of Christ... Jump to: navigation, search 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... Jump to: navigation, search Prime is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office, said at 6 a. ... Jump to: navigation, search Terce is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Jump to: navigation, search Sext is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Acts of the Apostles, (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ... Jump to: navigation, search Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ...

After the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Prime was suppressed, and only one of the now-renamed Midmorning, Midday, or Midafternoon Prayers need be normally said, unless bound by a rule that states otherwise. The prayers are also now normally said in the vernacular instead of in Latin. The current structure of the Little Hours include an introductory prayer, a hymn, three psalms with antiphons, which vary by day of week, a reading, a versicle, and a closing prayer. If more than one of these Hours is said, an invariant set of psalms is said on subsequent hours. Theses prayers do not change with liturgical season or feast. These prayers are intended to be short enough to be memorized, to avoid interruption of work during the day. The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ... Jump to: navigation, search The vernacular is the native language of a country or locality. ... Jump to: navigation, search Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... A hymn is a song specifically written as a song of praise, adoration or prayer, typically addressed to a god. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... This article is about the musical term. ... Jump to: navigation, search The liturgical year, also known as the Christian year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in some Christian churches which determines when Feasts, Memorials, Commemorations, and Solemnities are to be observed and which portions of Scripture are to be read. ... Village Feast. ...

The recent growth of Traditional Catholicism has led to greater use of the older forms of prayer in the Divine Office, which are typically longer and said in Latin. Traditional Catholic is a broad term used to describe many groups of Roman Catholics who follow more traditional aspects of the Catholic Faith. ... Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time (also called offices), developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between prayers. ... Jump to: navigation, search Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

See also

• The Night Offices: Vespers, Compline, Matins or Office of Readings, and Lauds.
• Also, older names of night prayer: Nocturns and Vigils