Liturgy of the Hours

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Medic_Mark

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I have been doing some research ever since my Deacon mentioned that praying the Divine Office is a good spiritual discipline during his Homily on Saturday.

From the looks of it, it is quite an intensive exercise and I have doubts that it is practiced much by your average joe.

But I am a bit confused about it. It seems that it is meant to be prayed during set times of the day. I have found the website DivineOffice.org and think this will prove beneficial.

Under Dec. 6 they have listed:

Invitatory Psalm
Office of Readings
Morning Prayer
Daytime Prayer
Evening Prayer
Nighttime Prayer

So at what times should I pray and read those sections if I were to do this? And is there a better website to use? Anything else you think I should know?
 
Praying the liturgy of the hours can be very beneficial to a person, even if not a priest or a vowed religious.

I don’t believe there are set times to pray each of the hours. Many priests that live in a community might have two or more of the hours during the day said in community. So, for example, the morning prayers might be right before their daily morning mass and evening prayer might be right before their evening meal. The individual priests would then be required to keep the other hours during the day when they have time. I’m sure they try to do the various hours at the same time each day but as their schedule varies it might differ from day to day.

As a lay person a good place to start with the liturgy of the hours is to pick one or more of the hours that work best with your time schedule. You could always do the morning prayers when you wake up or after breakfast and even with that you don’t have to do thee whole set of prayers and maybe you’d want to do either the evening or night prayers. As you find the ones that work best for you, you can do more or try to add other hours.

In this season of Advent and Christmas to come perhaps praying the hours could be a nice added bonus to your spiritual practices.

ChadS
 
I have been praying the Liturgy of the Hours for several years. I do not pray all of the hours, but I do Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. For me, Morning Prayer is between 5:30 and 6:30 AM, Evening Prayer is between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM, and Night Prayer is a little while before I go to sleep.

Because lay people do not live by the rule of a monastery or religious order, they can choose the most appropriate time for them to say the particular hours that they do. And, using the term “hours” does not mean that each prayer section takes one hour…it is referring to the time of day. Morning Prayer takes about twenty minutes.

When I first started to pray the LOTH I had to get in the habit of fitting it into my schedule. Now, it is a habit and one that I would not want to stop!

I have noticed that more and more lay people are becoming interested in the LOTH.

Also, there are various books that can be purchased. “Shorter Christian Prayer” contains Morning, Evening, and Night Prayer. “Christiam Prayer” contains Daytime prayer as well as the others, and the Four Volume set contains it all, including the Office of Readings and special prayers on specific feasts and sanint’s days. They are all on a four-week cycle.
 
Medic_Mark said:
I have been doing some research ever since my Deacon mentioned that praying the Divine Office is a good spiritual discipline during his Homily on Saturday.

From the looks of it, it is quite an intensive exercise and I have doubts that it is practiced much by your average joe.

But I am a bit confused about it. It seems that it is meant to be prayed during set times of the day. I have found the website DivineOffice.org and think this will prove beneficial.

Under Dec. 6 they have listed:

Invitatory Psalm
Office of Readings
Morning Prayer
Daytime Prayer
Evening Prayer
Nighttime Prayer

So at what times should I pray and read those sections if I were to do this? And is there a better website to use? Anything else you think I should know?
Click to expand...
Invitatory Psalm Immediately before the first Office of the Day
Office of Readings Any convenient time but often it is used as the Office of Vigils (during the night, or very early in the morning) as allowed by the rubrics (in fact it replaced the traditional office of Vigils
Morning Prayer Roughly at sunrise, but typically around 6:00 am to 8:00 am
Daytime Prayer Can be at any of the canonical hours of Terce, Sext or None, but typically mid-day; Terce approx: 8:30 am to 10 am; Sext approx. 11 am to 1 pm, None approx. 2 pm to 4 pm
Evening Prayer Roughly at sunset, typically in the 4 pm to 8 pm range
Nighttime Prayer Variable, last prayer just before bed
 
I pray the LOH, using the 4 volume set. This is how I pray the hours, using what you posted above.

Invitatory Psalm- usually Psalm 95 (there are alternatives), is said at the beginning of the praying of the hours, whethere you start with teh OOR or MP, everyday

Office of Readings- depends

Morning Prayer- usually before I roll out of bed. I keep my brievery in the night table.

Daytime Prayer- I don’t usually use the LOH for daytime prayer.

*Evening Prayer *- I pray this hour, usually around 5pm, but depending on my work schedule it can range from 4-7pm

Nighttime Prayer- last thing I do before I go to sleep

Re: Office of Readings- it depends on my daily schedule when I do the OOR. If I do not have an early morning, I do them and morning prayer at the same time. If I have a break mid-day, I might do them then. If neither of these happens, I will pray them before night prayer.

Praying the hours can be quite confusing. A priest friend showed me how to use the St. Joseph’s Guide ( a little book that gives you all the appropriate readings for all the feast, solemnities, etc), and how to use the ribbons to keep my places marked. After a while, it just becomes second nature. Ask your priest or deacon to give you a lesson, I find that is the best way to learn! 🙂

LOH has greatly enriched my prayer life. It connects me with “something bigger”, as no matter what time it may be, someone, somewhere is also praying with me. It also exposes one to the great teachers of the faith- many of the readings in the OOR are from Church fathers, saints & scholars, and have greatly enhanced my quest for more knowledge of my faith.

Peace be with you on your journey!!
 
I tried praying the Liturgy of the Hours and following all the correct times to pray. I lasted two weeks before I couldn’t wake up on time. Of course, I’m 70+ years old so that may have something to do with it. But I just could not get up before dawn for Matins every day of the week.

So I tried the Little Office of the BVM. It is considerably easier and its something I can physically do.

But I really loved the LOTH when I did pray it.

Cheers
 
While there is no set specific time, I find that there tend to be some good approximate times for the different hours.

Invitatory + Morning Prayer: When you wake up
Office of Readings: After breakfast, or whenever convenient
Daytime Prayer: During lunch or some midday break
Evening Prayer: Right before dinner
Night Prayer: Last prayer before going to bed

This is the schedule I tend to follow in the seminary (with Morning and Evening Prayer being done communally). It takes some time at first to adjust to the rhythm of it, but after a while it becomes an essential part of your life, and any day without it will almost feel weird. It’s a wonderful form of prayer.
 
The Invitatory is only requried when the day starts with the Office of Readings.

If you start your day with Morning Prayer the Invitatory may be omited.

From the General Instructions of the Liturgy of the Hours (GILH).
35. The invitatory is placed at the beginning of the whole sequence of the day’s prayer, that is, it precedes either morning prayer or the office of readings, whichever of these liturgical rites begins the day. The invitatory psalm with its antiphon may be omitted, however, when the invitatory is the prelude to morning prayer.
 
Medic_Mark said:
I have been doing some research ever since my Deacon mentioned that praying the Divine Office is a good spiritual discipline during his Homily on Saturday.

From the looks of it, it is quite an intensive exercise and I have doubts that it is practiced much by your average joe.

But I am a bit confused about it. It seems that it is meant to be prayed during set times of the day. I have found the website DivineOffice.org and think this will prove beneficial.

Under Dec. 6 they have listed:

Invitatory Psalm
Office of Readings
Morning Prayer
Daytime Prayer
Evening Prayer
Nighttime Prayer

So at what times should I pray and read those sections if I were to do this? And is there a better website to use? Anything else you think I should know?
Click to expand...
Mark,
I felt led to pray the LOTH 2 months into RCIA and started actually with the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (which I still like for midday prayers).
When I was learning how to pray the LOTH I used divineoffice.org and the single volume Christian Prayer together. I basically listened to the podcast and found my way around the book (it was a good way for me to learn).
The main difference between the single volume Christian Prayer and the 4 volume LOTH is that Christian Prayer (depending on the version you get, may or may not have part of the Office of Readings. Mine has a part of it, but other versions don’t. Night prayer also has some extra prayers in the 4 volume version (which I found out because a nun friend of mine was showing me a specific prayer in her 4 volume version that wasn’t in my single volume.
I will likely move to the 4 volume version in the next few months 🙂
For the time being though Mark, try just going along with the podcasts on divineoffice, you’ll see that the prayers bring you closer to God. 🙂
Edit- I forgot to mention, if you can find a community somewhere near you that prayers the Office too, try to go pray with them… it’s so cool to pray with others (especially if sung/chanted) 🙂
 
Medic_Mark said:
I have been doing some research ever since my Deacon mentioned that praying the Divine Office is a good spiritual discipline during his Homily on Saturday.

From the looks of it, it is quite an intensive exercise and I have doubts that it is practiced much by your average joe.
…
So at what times should I pray and read those sections if I were to do this? And is there a better website to use? Anything else you think I should know?
Click to expand...
I don’t know if you are wanting a book to pray from, but there are three main books that most use for the LotH, the 4 Volume Set, Christian Prayer, and Shorter Christian Prayer. I personally like Christian Prayer. I think it is a good balance of size/cheapness and completeness. It is cheaper than the 4 Volume set and is obviously 😉 not as complete as that one, but it has all of Morning and Evening Prayer (generally the most popular ones for lay people), including all the Seasons and Saints days and all of that. I don’t like Shorter Christian Prayer as it only has limited seasonal prayers, but it can be a good starter. The 4 Volume set is good as it has everything, but it is pricey and I wouldn’t use most of it any way.

As for learning how, the best set of directions I’ve found are here. The “Discovering Prayer” link is the one you want. It has directions and an example of EXACTLY what to say, with page numbers to the three major books. Getting a priest, or anyone who has prayed it before, to show you how could also be helpful. It certainly can be overwhelming at first, but once you get use to the various parts and how the different seasons fit in, it really isn’t difficult at all. 😃 I’ve been praying it for about 2 1/2 years and other than the occasional question about which feast is higher in rank, I have no problems. 😃

As for what to pray, I wouldn’t worry about all the hours. I’d venture that most people who pray the LotH don’t pray them all. The most common are Morning and Evening Prayer. I also wouldn’t worry too much about praying them at the exact right times. I pray Morning Prayer whenever I get up, which depending on my schedule has been anywhere from 5 am to 10 am. Same with Evening Prayer, I pray that some time between supper and bedtime, which has been anywhere from 5 pm to midnight. Just find the best way to fit it into your schedule. 👍
 
KarenElissa said:
As for learning how, the best set of directions I’ve found are here. The “Discovering Prayer” link is the one you want. It has directions and an example of EXACTLY what to say, with page numbers to the three major books.
Click to expand...
Great link 🙂
 
corsair said:
I tried praying the Liturgy of the Hours and following all the correct times to pray. I lasted two weeks before I couldn’t wake up on time. Of course, I’m 70+ years old so that may have something to do with it. But I just could not get up before dawn for Matins every day of the week.

So I tried the Little Office of the BVM. It is considerably easier and its something I can physically do.

But I really loved the LOTH when I did pray it.

Cheers
Click to expand...
It took me YEARS to build up to some sort of habitual recitation of the hours (I actually chant them). The real breakthrough was a job where I could work from home.

Now I’ve graduated to using the Monastic Office, which is not for the faint of heart.

Many monks in monasteries are over 80 and get up in the middle of the night for Matins, but they probably have been doing so for 60 or so years. Lots of time to make it a habit!

I’ll admit that Matins is my toughest proposition. When I can, I get up at 3:30 or 4 in the morning to pray it, which takes about 45 minutes (if I divide Matins into two weeks, i.e. 6 psalms per night; using the 1 week schema, there are 12 psalms and it can take from about 55 min to just over an hour depending on the length of the psalms, and well over an hour on Sundays and feasts when there’s a 3d nocturne of 3 O.T. canticles), then I go back to sleep until Lauds. When I can’t bring myself to get up in the middle of the night, I pray it at around 6:15 am, my normal time to rise. When I work in the city (once a week) or otherwise have to get up very early in the morning, I combine it with Compline and pray it the night before.

That would be my suggestion to you, pray it with Compline. I use the monastic office but I spread Matins over 2 weeks. When I pray it with Compline, I do it as such:

Introductory verse
Examination of conscience and Confiteor
Hymn (Te Lucis, from Compline, in the rubrics you can use the Matins hymn or the hymn of the hour with which you are combining it)
1st Nocturne (psalmody from Vigils)
Vigil Readings with their responsories
2nd Nocturne (psalms from Compline)
Shorter reading for Compline
Responsory
Gospel canticle
Kyrie+Pater in secret (this is a monastic tradition, not in the LOTH)
Collect
Conclusion
Marian antiphon

One thing I learned hanging out in monasteries, is that there is a LOT of variation from community to community on how to do things; for instance in summer, the Rule of St. Benedict allows the replacement of the longer readings with brief scripture readings with responsory. Presumably because in the summer there was more work to be done in the fields.

Oh and the way I got into praying Matins at 4 am as is done in many monasteries, is somewhat amusing. My cats were always waking me up at 4 am to let them outside. I used to really grumble about that until I realized that God was calling me through my cats! 😃
 
I appreciate all your (name removed by moderator)uts! I’ve been practicing this for a day and half now and it has been amazing. I really hope I can faithfully prayer the divine office and I hope I never grow to view it as tiresome or laborious.

I can’t afford any of the books right now so I am going to follow the divineoffice.org page until I can.
 
Medic_Mark said:
I appreciate all your (name removed by moderator)uts! I’ve been practicing this for a day and half now and it has been amazing. I really hope I can faithfully prayer the divine office and I hope I never grow to view it as tiresome or laborious.

I can’t afford any of the books right now so I am going to follow the divineoffice.org page until I can.
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Hey Mark,
I didn’t realize that you live so close to me, you know there are groups in town that meet to pray the Office on Sundays right?
 
Rachel said:
Hey Mark,
I didn’t realize that you live so close to me, you know there are groups in town that meet to pray the Office on Sundays right?
Click to expand...
I did not. I’m really new to the Church. When and where?
 
I read the morning prayers to my husband as we are driving into work. It helps us not to get riled up about traffic…😉
 
There is a book, The Divine Office for Do Dos It tells you everything you need to know on how to pray the LOTH. It also answers all those “little” questions that come up and take you by surprise.
 
Some things that I have found helpful in starting and staying with the Liturgy of the Hours (LOTH), I hope others may find some of this worthwhile.

Gaining a full perspective on the LOTH is important. This is the common pray of the Catholic Church; every priest, nun, brother, deacon in the church has vowed to pray this, everyday. They are joined by those who are loosely connected to religious orders; oblates, and other lay people throughout the world. So, when we join in the prayer we are joining millions of people all over the planet who pray this. During every hour of the day someone, somewhere is starting up the LOTH. God is having millions of people pray the same prayer to Him over each twenty-four hour period. Different races, different genders, different languages, all praying the same set of prayers; that gives me an awesome sense of community. Plus this has been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years.

I use the four volume set and a free prompter from ClassicalLiberalArts.com. The prompter leads a person through each day of the week by page number; saves a lot of time. They also have a free prompter for the smaller one volume liturgy.

There are also some helpful podcasts on ITunes. Even if one does not have an IPod, ITunes is free and allows you to listen to podcasts on your computer; here are three to consider:
  1. DivineOffice.org – a really great free site; these folks use the four volume set and they include singing. You feel as if you are with them in church.
  2. SQPN, Pray Station Portable. A slightly more bare bones, but complete, approach using the four volume set.
  3. Monastery Podcast – two prayers per day, Lauds and Vespers. This is beautiful. It is recorded by Benedictine sisters in their chapel; worth listening to even if you pray with something else.
 
Marsha_Adams said:
There is a book, The Divine Office for Do Dos It tells you everything you need to know on how to pray the LOTH. It also answers all those “little” questions that come up and take you by surprise.
Click to expand...
Good book and a fun read. The author is connected with a church gift shop that produces and sells an 8 ribbon marker set. These are hard to find.
 
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