The Divine Office - its central importance in the life of The Church

[BarbaraTherese]

The Divine Office as the Church’s
Prayer of Praise and Intercession

by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

therealpresence.org/archives/Prayer/Prayer_005.htm

• Why pray The Divine Office and its vital and central importance in the life of The Church……the why, the how and the who…
• …… The Divine Office is intimately linked to the Blessed Eucharist: “Let us first read what the Church says about the Divine Office and how intimately she associates it with the Eucharistic Liturgy.”

On our part, this means that a deeper awareness is called for if we are to become effective pleaders before the throne of God for the millions of children of a fallen human race.

We must become aware of whom we are praying for: the multitudes of suffering in body and spirit, the tempted and the fallen, the discouraged and depressed, the hungry and naked and homeless and friendless who need our intercession. Only in heaven shall we know how much our petitions on earth have helped how many souls join us in the eternal Liturgy of the angels and saints who behold the face of God.

…
This is not as obvious as it may at first seem. When we say that the Liturgy of the Hours is, after the Eucharist, the Church’s most effective prayer of intercession, we mean that those who sing or recite the Divine Office literally stand, hence intercede, between God and the human family.
Intercessory prayer is Mediatorial prayer, where the mediators are those priests, religious and laity who plead with the heavenly Father to have mercy and to be generous to the human race.
Behind this simple affirmation stands another mystery of our faith, namely, the value of human intercession in favor of other people who either cannot or will not or do not sufficiently pray for themselves.

If you would like to pray online the Prayers from The Divine Office (a shorter version of The Divine Office, approved by The Church for general use) you can access these prayers daily on:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=3343916#post3343916
Each month a new thread for that month commences and is updated on a daily basis.

Blessings - barb

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I have heard it said by priest, who at one time fell away from their faith, to the point they were almost ready to leave the priesthood. They said, that they came to understand that their faith began to suffer, when they stopped praying the Divine Office. Once they recovered and returned to their faith, they never gave up saying the Divine Office.

Its that important.

Jim

 

[BarbaraTherese]

I have heard it said by priest, who at one time fell away from their faith, to the point they were almost ready to leave the priesthood. They said, that they came to understand that their faith began to suffer, when they stopped praying the Divine Office. Once they recovered and returned to their faith, they never gave up saying the Divine Office.

Its that important.

Jim

I agree, Jim, that The Divine Office is of great importance and The Church underscores this if one reads the various chapters in the book (if one has one) prior to the actual Hours themselves, and the longer one prays the Hours, the more the wonder of it all unfolds, based as it is in the Psalms and Scripture and an “inexhaustable treasury”. I am drawn too that in the course of a year in the Intercessions of each day one has prayed for every conceivable need.
It was a truly stumbling stop/start matter for me when I first begun to pray from “Prayers from The Divine Office” which is a shorter version of the Divine Office with Church approval - after years of this stumbling nowadays it is habitual and an intrinsic part of my day along the lines of having breakfast, showering and cleaning the teeth (not the best of comparisons perhaps! )- automatic pilot as I call it - my day just does not feel right if for some reason I miss, which at times I may. Habit, which can be that dreaded master, can be the best of servants.
Perseverance, Grace gifted, sows and reaps…
…thank you for the (name removed by moderator)ut…

Blessings - Barb

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Here are another couple of articles on The Divine Office, also known as The Breviary or The Hours…

This article from New Advent gives the history of The Divine Office in the life of The Church
newadvent.org/cathen/02768b.htm

AN INCENTIVE TO PRAYER

by Francis Cardinal Spellman
(all about the Divine Office and its importance in the life of The Church and its immense value to the spiritual life and even understanding of The Church and Her theology – not a long article nor a complex one…and more than worth a read!)
ewtn.com/library/PRAYER/INCENTIV.TXT

PS…neglected to mention that The Divine Office is drawn from the Psalms and Scipture generally…and also the writings of The Fathers of The Church…sometimes saints too.