Need Some Clarification on the Divine Office

[torch621]

Ok, I really would like to pick up the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) but I need some clarification.

1. Can I pray this alone, and if so how?
2. Know any good sources for it?
3. What are the rules for the laity regarding it?
4. At what time do I pray each hour?

Please help, I’m really confused.

 

[peregrinus_WA]

Ok, I really would like to pick up the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) but I need some clarification.

1. Can I pray this alone, and if so how? Yes. I do the morning, evening, and night prayers. Based where I am, I either do it silently or a quiet reading out loud.
2. Know any good sources for it? Someone else will have to answer this one. I just got the books (I use the 4 volume set) and the guide and started praying it.
3. What are the rules for the laity regarding it? As far as I know, there is not restrictions. In fact, it is encouraged in some places. The confraternity I belong to suggests it as part of a member’s prayer life in many cases. Also, for those invested in the Brown Scapular, it is one of the ways to fulfill the daily requirements.

Please help, I’m really confused.

 

[BenM]

universalis.com is a good online resource; its not fully complete in some areas as far as I’m aware, but once you modify the calendar options to suit your area, it gives you the daily readings/prayers automatically every time you visit.

 

[Br_Mark]

Dear Torch621,

To answer your questions: 1) You can recite the daily office by yourself; however I find it more rewarding if the office is said in communion with others. 2) A good resource would be the Daily Office for Dodos. 3) There are no rules concerning the laity reading the daily offices. 4) If you only say the primary offices i.e. morning prayer & evening prayer ----you do them in the morning and in the evening (early evening —when you get home from work or after supper).

Your best bet would be to go visit a monastery or religious house and join in with the religious in the daily offices. You will find that most religious cmmunities do not use the 4 volume set of the LOTH. Since the late 60’s religious communities were allowed to compose their own daily office based on their rule and customary.

Br Mark, OSB

 

[christinealder]

As one who just recently came back home to the Church last month, God has been bringing back to mind such things as the beauty of the LOTH, and I never realized how meaningful these prayers are in my life. Thanks be to God for the encouragement I receive from everyone in this Catholic Answers apostalate.

 

[Lancer]

FYI:

1. I would emphasize the LOTH are to be prayed by being “recited”…by voice…not prayed in a silent format. Dear Deacon:
   The current General Instruction for the Liturgy of the Hours does not make any explicit practice of mouthing or whispering the Office in private recitation (at least not that I can find).
   However, the GILOTH always refers to the “recitation” of the Office, or to “recite” the office. This implies a verbal expression. Recitation is not a mental thinking of the Office.
   Although whispering or mouthing is no longer specified overtly in the General Instructions, it is certain that we are to “recite” the Office in private. Recite, by definition, means to verbally express.
   
   saint-mike.org/apologetics/QA/Answers/Divine_Office/o0402240015.html
2. General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours (GILOTLH), February 2, 1971Chapter I-IV. Participants in the Liturgy of the Hours
   catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/DocumentContents/Index/2/SubIndex/39/DocumentIndex/2 Celebration In Common
3. The liturgy of the hours, like other liturgical services, is not a private matter but belongs to the whole Body of the Church, whose life it both expresses and affects. [91] This liturgy stands out most strikingly as an ecclesial celebration when, through the bishop surrounded by his priests and ministers, [92] the local Church celebrates it. For “in the local Church the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church is truly present and at work.” [93] Such a celebration is therefore most earnestly recommended. When, in the absence of the bishop, a chapter of canons or other priests celebrate the liturgy of the hours, they should always respect the true time of day and, as far as possible, the people should take part. The same is to be said of collegiate chapters.
   27. Lay groups gathering for prayer, apostolic work, or any other reason are encouraged to fulfill the Church’s duty, [103] by celebrating part of the liturgy of the hours. **The laity must learn above all how in the liturgy they are adoring God the Father in spirit and in truth; [104] they should bear in mind that through public worship and prayer they reach all humanity and can contribute significantly to the salvation of the whole world. **[105]
   Finally, it is of great advantage for the family, the domestic sanctuary of the Church, not only to pray together to God but also to celebrate some parts of the liturgy of the hours as occasion offers, in order to enter more deeply into the life of the Church. [106]

[98] They should teach the people how to make this participation a source of genuine prayer; [99] they should therefore give the people suitable guidance in the Christian understanding of the psalms, in order to progress by degrees to a greater appreciation and more frequent use of the prayer of the Church. [100]
3. Regarding the sequence after the psalm…first, the “Glory Be” Doxology …then the psalm’s Antiphon… and then the psalm prayer (if included). The best indication I can find in the GILOTH (found in the beginning of Vol I of the 4-set LOTH) is:
GILOTH** no. 202** In the section on Sacred Silence states: …it is permissible, as occasion offers and prudence suggests, to have an interval of silence, either after the repetition of the antiphon at the end of the psalm, in the traditional way, especially if the psalm-prayer is going to be said after the pause or after the short or longer reading,…
To me it would make sense that the psalms would follow the same pattern as the canticles, which do not have their own prayers.

saint-mike.org/apologetics/QA/Answers/Divine_Office/divine_office_view.html
4. Times: In the Rule of St. Michael we give this range of possibilities for saying the Offices:
2 - 4 am

Matins/Vigils (Office of Readings – can be said anytime; often said with Lauds)
5 - 8 amLauds (Morning Prayer)

8:30 - 10 am
Tierce (Mid-Morning Prayer)
11:30 am - 1 pm
Sext (Mid-Day Prayer)
2:30 - 4 pm
None (Mid-Afternoon Prayer)
4:30 - 7 pm
Vespers (Evening Prayer)
7:30 - 10:30 pm
Complin (Night Prayer – is said before retiring even if after midnight; sometimes said immediates after Vespers)
God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary
​

saint-mike.org/apologetics/QA/Answers/Divine_Office/divine_office_view.html

5. Hope this is helpful…and not overwhelming…just remember to always…always pray to the Holy Spirit to come and help you at the beginning of each LOTH…and never…never loose sight of the fact that you are praying (even if physically by yourself) the LOTH in communion and with the voices of with the entire Church…Militant…Suffering…and Triumphant. Also, the backbone of the LOTH is the book of Psalms…designed by God himself (Holy Spirit)…to be prayed to Him for his Glory and praise (first and most powerfully by His Son, Our Lord Jesus [on the cross…Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me…”]…and by all of his people [the Jews and Christians]). In all the other books of the bible…we listen…in the book of Psalms…God listens to us…very intently (I can’t remember who made this very true statement…it was not me, but I like it a lot!).

Pax Christi

 

[Cluny]

Have you tried asking your pastor about it?

That’s one of the things he’s there for.

 

[torch621]

Thank you for the help.

Now for another silly question. I’m currently using an audio version of the LOTH from DivineOffice.org. The question is, do I only say certain parts as I’m following along, or do I just recite the whole thing?