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. ... Monastery of St. ... 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 Divine Office (from...

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. A Medieval Low Mass by a bishop. ... 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 Divine Office (from...

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 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. ... 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: Canon Law is the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

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. ...

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. 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 almost all the Christian liturgies. ... 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. ... Psalms (Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. ... The Septuagint (LXX) is the name commonly given in the West to the Greek Alexandrine translation of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) translated some time between the 3rd to 1st century BC. The Septuagint translation includes additional books and chapters of the Hebrew text, including the books of the...

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. Psalm 119 is the longest psalm as well as the longest chapter in the Bible. ... John Cassian (c. ... An abbey (from the Latin abbatia, which is derived from the Syriac abba, father), is a Christian monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serve as the spiritual father or mother of the community. ...

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. A Tridentine Mass being celebrated in Bohermeen, Ireland in the 1950s. ... A breviary (from Latin brevis, short or concise) is a liturgical book containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially for priests, in the Divine Office (i. ... 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. ... Christmas is a Christian holiday held on December 25 which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. ...

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 94 from the Vulgate "Venite laudemus Dominum," which is rendered "Come, let us sing to the Lord," in Psalm 95 in the Hebrew. 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. The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century translation of the Bible into Latin made by St. ... Nocturns (Latin: Nocturni or Nocturna) are an ancient form of Christian night prayer. ... Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ... Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese: Milán) is the main city of northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy, being often mistaken with the capital of the country. ...

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. ... John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome. ... A canticle is a hymn (strictly excluding the Psalms) taken from the Bible. ...

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. A response is the following: Often a response is the result of a stimulus. ... Kyrie is the vocative case of the Greek word κύριος (kyrios - lord) and means O Lord. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Lords Prayer The Lords Prayer, sometimes also known amongst English speakers as the Paternoster, a term derived from the first two words in Latin versions, is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. ...

Prime and Compline also shared highly similar structures, which were yet different from that of terce, sext and none (the other 'little' offices). The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

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 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)

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 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. ...

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. This article is about the year 2000. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

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. Matins is the morning prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ...

See also

• Breviary
• Clergy
• Religious orders
• Psalms
• Mass

A breviary (from Latin brevis, short or concise) is a liturgical book containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially for priests, in the Divine Office (i. ... 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 (Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. ... A Medieval Low Mass by a bishop. ...

External links

• The Liturgy of the Hours - psalms, prayers and readings for the Office of Readings (Matins), Morning Prayer (Lauds), Evening Prayer (Vespers), Night Prayer (Compline), and Mass. Gives texts for today and for the week ahead.
• How to Pray
• General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours
• Liturgy of the Hours / Divine Office / Breviary
• Breviarium Romanum - includes some of the Liturgy of the Hours in Latin.