Liturgy of the Hours times?

Traditional Catholicism
#1

Ave Maria,

I picked up a time schedule for the Liturgy of the Hours being:

Office of Readings 5:30 am

Morning Prayer 8:00 am *

Mid-Morning 10:00 am

Mid-Day Prayer 12:00 pm *

Mid-Afternoon 3:00 pm

Evening Prayer 5:30 pm *

Night Prayer 8:30 pm *

Three questions,

  1. Is this the correct times?

  2. What time zone is the Liturgy in? GMT 0? Or whatever your time zone is?

  3. Can the Liturgy be done at different times, say give or take an hour?

Thank you.

#2

Trevor, I think that these used to be the times before the Divine Office was revised. The times now don’t seem to be so specific e.g. Morning prayer (Lauds), mid-morning prayer (Terce), noon prayer (Sext), mid-afternoon prayer (Nones), evening prayer (Vespers) and night time prayer (Compline). You might say Morning Prayer at 6am and I might say it at 9am but both are still morning prayer. Compline is to be the last Hour before you go to bed, even if it is after midnight. As a lay person you don’t have to say the LOTH and if you choose to say it you don’t have to say all of the hours. I try to say Lauds, Vespers and Compline. Lauds and Vespers are regarded as the two hinges of the LOTH. I think it is more important to actually pray than to focus excessively on the times. I heard of a story which I hope isn’t true, of a priest who, realising the time stopped his car and said his Office by the light of the headlights - this amounts almost to scruplosity in my opinion.

1 Like
#3

Those times are ok. Times are not specific, are local, and can be varied to suit your needs

It also depends on whether you use the Office of Readings as Vigils (I do)

Rough guide:

Vigils: just before sunrise (5:30 am for me)
Lauds: sunrise to 8:30 am (6:10 am for me)
Tierce: 8:45-10 am (8:45)
Sexte: 11:30 am-1:30 pm (11:45)
None: 2-4 pm (3 pm)
Vespers: 4:30-8 pm (6:30 pm)
Compline: before bed (typically 9:30-10 pm for me)

The only requirement is to respect the verity of each hour. If note prayed as vigils, the OOR can be said at any time

#4

Hello,

I would like to start Liturgy of the Hours. I have the 1 vol. Christian Prayer book, 1976 edition. Could someone guide me on how to go about it? Or is there a website that can explain? For instance, am I correct that this Sunday is the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time? On that page I see Evening Prayer 1, Canticle of Mary, Morning Prayer, then Canticle of Zechariah. Why is Evening Prayer first and where do I find the Canticles? And finally where do I go to for prayers each day of the week? I see sections with Week 1, II, III and IV and also sections that say Monday, Tuesday, etc. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

                                            John
#5

Saturday vigil is called Evening Prayer I - Evening Prayer on Sunday is called Evening Prayer II

#6

Yes you are correct, this Sunday will be the 24 Sunday in ordinary time. The correct page for the 24th Sunday in ordinary time in christian prayer book should be page 931 and it should say evening prayer 2 (i dont know the exact page if your useing the four volume set of Liturgy Of the Hours) which will be for Sunday evening. If you flip back to page 921 it should say evening prayer 1 , which is for Saturday night. This goes back to midieval times in the Church, and back then people considered Sunday as begining at sundown on Saturday evening. So the office for Saturday evening is Sunday evening prayer 1 and Sunday evening would be, Sunday evening prayer 2. I highly recommend buying the book ->The Divine Office For Dodos divineofficefordodos.com/index its on amazon.com also. Its a great book and easy to follow and explains in easy step by step how to use the Christian Prayer or the 4 volume set.

#7

The Canticle of Mary and Zachariah should be on the two cards that came with the prayer book or they might be found inside it(can also buy these or order them at a religious store) , or simply get them right from the bible itself. Canticle of Mary-> Luke 1:46-55
Zachariah → Luke 1:68-79

#8

Thank you both for the info. I will definitely be picking up that resource Vince. The Christian Prayer book was given to me and did not come with the cards but a check of the Bible and now I know the Canticle of Mary is the Magnificat. :slight_smile:

#9

For the Canticle of Zechariah see page 691 in Christian Prayer 1976.

For the Canticle of Mary [Magnificat] page 696.

Note that 24 divided by 4 leaves no remainder; so you need the other prayers from Week IV starting with EPI on page 921 [immediately after Morning prayer for Saturday Week III].

#10

Thank you also Joe. I found another thread in another ca forum that might be helpful to others with questions.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=544472

#11

Theres also phone apps which are easy. If you have iphone or and android phone you can download the app called-> ibreviary. It does it all for you. But me personally I refer a learning the structure and how to use the christian prayer book. I only use the phone up as a supplemental. But try it whatever works best for you

#12

Do the Catholics that follow to the 1962 Liturgy use a different LOTH? Sorry if this is off topic, I just wanted to know if they do and where one could porches such a book(s).

#13

Yes, they do. The Divine Office (formerly called the “Roman Breviary”) was changed after V2, as were all the sacraments.

If you were interested in purchasing the 1962 Roman Breviary, there are many options for you. It depends on a few things. First, would you want to pray the entire Office (including Matins, which can have up to 9 Psalms and 2-3 readings). Second, would you want Latin or Latin/English? Finally, how much money do you want to spend?

Based on those questions, here are links to appropriate websites for purchasing:

Latin only, Matins included: Nova Et Vetera

Latin only, No Matins: Preserving Christian Publications

Latin/English, Matins included: Baronius Press* note this title is still forthcoming

Latin/English, Lauds Vesper Compline: Lulu

Latin/English, Day Prayers + Compline: Angelus Press

If you want to get a taste of the Roman Breviary before purchasing, try: www.divinumofficium.com

#14

Thank you so much! I think I’m going to go with the Baronius Press, I know it won’t be coming anytime soon but at least they have a pre-order option. :thumbsup:

#15

Thanks for that! I got this lovely litte red book *Night Prayer *from the UK Catholic Truth Society and was baffled as to why there were two Sundays and no Saturday in the week! Makes perfect sense (not). Now I can get on with it. Thank God and my search engine I found your answer. :thumbsup:

#16