Liturgy of the Hours

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[QI hav ben using the Shorter Christian Prayer which is the liturgy of the hrs with some special days removed. Vatican ii called fo a return of th laity to praying the Common Prayers of the Church…the loh. Divinoffice.org is good nd u can listen and/or rad as well as some lik to et their iphone app. I was first introduced to universalis.com which is good as well. Most lay people, i believe concentrate on the morning and evening prayers. It is helpful to seek out someone to help u get started if u use the books so that u can become familiar with how to use the books. Note: I would say it is like riding a bike. Once u get used to it, its no problem. The blessings are many and as my pastor mentioned it is not the quantity of prayer but the quality and finding a relationship with Jesus zChrist. I like praying the LOH with group which we do each Wednesday morning. God bless u! Ted

QUOTE=Medic Mark;7337318]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?
 
For those who are beginning to pray the Liturgy of the Hours there are some things to keep in mind, that many lay people do not know.

The Liturgy of the Hours, is actually Liturgy. It is not private prayer. It is not prayed for my benefit, but for the benefit of the Body and the Glory of God. In that sense, I too benefit. It’s like going to mass. It’s not my mass or the priest’s mass. Also, the LOTH is an extension of the mass. I always describe the mass as the Head and the LOTH as the crown that goes on that head. Analogies are not perfect, but I hope that helped.

As to the times of the day, there are rules about this. One must observe the horarium of the Church. Morning with sunrise. Once the sun has fully risen, the Church moves to mid-morning prayer. That’s between 5:00 – 10:00 in most places. If you’re near the North or South Poles, you’ll have to trust your watch. 😃

Evening begins with the vigil, which is at sunset, between 4:30 – 7:30. Night is before midnight.

Office of Readings is a little tricky. Office or Reading is really Matins. Many religious houses pray it in the middle of the night, right after night prayer or early in the morning before morning prayer. It can be prayed at any time of day. However, if you pray it after night prayer, you pray the Office of Readings for the next day.

Also, Morning Prayer, should be the first liturgical action of the day. You pray it before mass. If forget to pray it or don’t have time and you go to mass, you can skip it and go on to the next hour.

You may want to begin with a light schedule such as the one followed by secular deacons, priests and bishops. They are only bound to pray morning and evening prayer. Religious orders pray more hours, some pray all of the hours. For a beginner, morning and evening prayer is a good start.

I would also suggest that you begin with Christian Prayer, single volume. In the front part of CP there are directions for the different parts of the Liturgy of the Hours and they are pretty straightforward. I think they’re better than some of the internet sites and some of the books around, because they were written for that particular book and for the USA. The internet sites and the books that we find around are for the Roman Church. But the Roman Church does not follow the same rubrics for the LOTH. There are many variations by religious families, by Episcopal conferences, and monastic and the clerical version.

I hope this is helpful.

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
AnotherVoice said:
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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I bought this book along with the ribbons and bookmarkers.

You can order both or individually at this website: divineofficefordodos.com/order%20informaton.htm

Very reasonably priced…and I need to add…if you “don’t get it” in trying to figure out how to do the hours…this is the book! It’s very basic if you have zero clue…which I did/do…I’m halfway through it now. I like it because it “dumbs it down” for me 😃

God Bless!
 
Colette_Maria said:
I bought this book along with the ribbons and bookmarkers.

You can order both or individually at this website: divineofficefordodos.com/order%20informaton.htm

Very reasonably priced…and I need to add…if you “don’t get it” in trying to figure out how to do the hours…this is the book! It’s very basic if you have zero clue…which I did/do…I’m halfway through it now. I like it because it “dumbs it down” for me 😃

God Bless!
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Excellent, excellent book.

The LOTH was one of the major elements that convinced me to convert to Catholicism. I started using the website Universalis in 2008, although their texts aren’t the liturgical approved ones. Then I used the book Shorter Christian Prayer, then got the 4-volume set on eBay and finally the Divine Office for Dodos answered many nagging questions I had.
 
I do my best to pray the Divine Office as often as possible.

(I hardly ever pray Mantins. It’s supposed to be in the middle of the night, and it can take up to an hour and a half).
5AM Lauds
6:30AM Prime
9:00AM Terce
12:00PM Sext
3:00PM None
6-7:30PM Vespers
9:30PM-11PM (depending on when I retire) Compline

These are the rough times my priest told me to pray the hours.
 
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