L
lucybeebee
Guest
Do the canonical hours for the Divine Office correspond to any specific numerical hours or are they generalized times?
- Status
L
LilyM
Guest
The hours are really intended to be said at specific times -
eg Morning Prayer at 6am or thereabouts,
Daytime prayer at 9am, noon and 3pm,
evening prayer at 6pm,
Night Prayer just before you go to sleep.
Office of Readings can be said at any time at all, but is traditionally said directly prior to Morning Prayer.
Of course there is some latitude, depending on whether or not you say the Daytime Prayers (if you do, your hours should be evenly spaced so as not to be said too close together).
Beyond that, I guess as long as you say your Morning Prayer in the Morning (before noon) and your Evening Prayer sometime after about 4pm ish you should be fine.
eg Morning Prayer at 6am or thereabouts,
Daytime prayer at 9am, noon and 3pm,
evening prayer at 6pm,
Night Prayer just before you go to sleep.
Office of Readings can be said at any time at all, but is traditionally said directly prior to Morning Prayer.
Of course there is some latitude, depending on whether or not you say the Daytime Prayers (if you do, your hours should be evenly spaced so as not to be said too close together).
Beyond that, I guess as long as you say your Morning Prayer in the Morning (before noon) and your Evening Prayer sometime after about 4pm ish you should be fine.
M
mommyof4
Guest
How do those of you who work find time for your devotions? I am at work all day, and I have difficulty fitting all of the prayers I would like to say (including the offices) into my schedule.
L
LilyM
Guest
Oh I don’t really say the daytime Offices with any sort of regularity, nor I imagine do many working people (except for those clerics who are obligated to!). Strictly a Morning, Evening and occasional Night Prayer kinda gal.
Sometimes if I can find (or make, more likely) a spare 10 minutes on the train to or from work or at lunchtime I may say the most relevant appropriate daytime office.
But I prefer to stick as consistently as possible to Daily Mass rather than worry too much about the other devotions, since it is by far the most beneficial use of my prayer time
Sometimes if I can find (or make, more likely) a spare 10 minutes on the train to or from work or at lunchtime I may say the most relevant appropriate daytime office.
But I prefer to stick as consistently as possible to Daily Mass rather than worry too much about the other devotions, since it is by far the most beneficial use of my prayer time
I
InLight247
Guest
I work full time too. The way I finish my daily devotions is to utilize every possible time I can find. Usually on my way to work, I can finish one Rosary while driving.
During work, if I’m running some computer program and waiting for it to finish, I can do the St. Bridget’s prayer. Or I use my lunch time to do it.
After work, while driving home, I do another one or two Rosaries depending if there is traffic delay. Then I stop at church after work to do one hour Eucharist Adoration. During that one hour I can do more devotions if choose to, such a Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
God bless!
A
AJV
Guest
I usually try to make my recitation of the Office revolve around Daily Mass. In my parish, Lauds (Morning Prayer) is said communally after one morning Mass. So I say the Office of Readings before the Mass and Daytime Prayer after Mass with the Reading and Versicle for ‘Before Noon’. Night Prayer before I sleep and Evening Prayer when I hear the mosques call for the fourth prayer
Speaking of which, you can get the daily Propers by following the link in my signature. I like tomorrow especially- the Feast of the Holy Cross. The antiphon for the Office of Readings reminds me of the Capuchin Bl. Marco d’Aviano, who charged at the Muslims in a battle with a crucifix shouting “Behold, The cross of the Lord. Flee, O enemy!”
A
AJV
Guest
Just to nitpick- but the Divine Office is not exactly on par with other devotions as it is the public prayer of the Church like the Mass (though of course, Mass is the mostimportant).O But I prefer to stick as consistently as possible to Daily Mass rather than worry too much about the other devotions, since it is by far the most beneficial use of my prayer time
F
Fidelis
Guest
My regular work schedule consists of a 10 hour workday starting at 7:00 AM. I am commited to at least saying the Morning Office of Shorter Christian Prayer before breakfast everyday (and sometimes that is hard to do uninterupted). Apart from that, I will do the other Offices as I have opportunity. I am driving home during Evening Prayer, and after dinner, kids and other household duties, I’m usually too brain-dead by the time Night Prayers come along.
I pray for the grace and the opportunity to expand as time goes on, eventually being able to say the entire Office, but right now I feel blessed to be able to do what I can and am content God is happy with my efforts, while fulfilling the obligations of my humble vocation as worker, husband and dad.
I pray for the grace and the opportunity to expand as time goes on, eventually being able to say the entire Office, but right now I feel blessed to be able to do what I can and am content God is happy with my efforts, while fulfilling the obligations of my humble vocation as worker, husband and dad.
M
mercygate
Guest
I pray the Office of Readings either in the middle of the night when I wake up or in the half hour in church before 7:00 a.m. Mass, joined to Morning Prayer. I have permission from my spiritual director to cluster the hours whenever my schedule won’t let me pray the hours “on time.” For those who are obliged to pray the office, the obligation takes precedence over the desirability of “consecrating the day” by spacing them.
Confession: going to 7:00 a.m. Mass near my office gets me over the GWB before the traffic builds and saves me 30 minutes (or more) of commuting time. I’d rather sit in church and pray than sit in traffic.
After Mass, I pray mid-morning prayer, and sometimes also mid-day and mid-afternoon prayer. Otherwise I cluster mid-afternoon prayer with Evening Prayer when I get home from work. Night prayer before bed – or if I’m really tired, I say it with Evening Prayer because as a 5:00 a.m. riser, often with a 3-hour period awake in the middle of the night, I can be nearly dead by 8:30 p.m.
- Status