Timing for the LOTH

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As a person who is trying to set up a schedule for their daily prayer sessions, (which I know is vital to one’s spiritual life) I’ve gotten into the practice of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Now, the question is: “What time do people pray the individual hours?”

Is Morning Prayer any time before 10:00 AM, or does Evening Prayer fall at sunset, or at a specified time?

I’ll take personal recommendations on what times.
 
fan312 said:
As a person who is trying to set up a schedule for their daily prayer sessions, (which I know is vital to one’s spiritual life) I’ve gotten into the practice of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Now, the question is: “What time do people pray the individual hours?”

Is Morning Prayer any time before 10:00 AM, or does Evening Prayer fall at sunset, or at a specified time?

I’ll take personal recommendations on what times.
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As far as praying them privately, you can approximate the times for whatever works for you.

Anytime in the morning is acceptable for morning prayer. Same for evening.
 
FrDavid96 said:
As far as praying them privately, you can approximate the times for whatever works for you.

Anytime in the morning is acceptable for morning prayer. Same for evening.
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How about you, Father, since you have an obligation? Is there a “cut-off” wherein your obligation is considered missed? Say, is there a time that’s too late for Morning Prayer, or too early for Evening Prayer?

I’m assuming, of course, that you’re diocesan. Seems to me a priest’s own obligation or that of a permanent deacon can serve as a good model for us laity as well.
 
I don’t know about the morning prayer times, but I know my priest friend will do his evening prayer right up until midnight.

Usually, he does the morning prayer right after his early morning mass, so I’ve never known it to be any issue.
 
For non-religious, it isn’t written in stone. Of course for religious, one follows the community’s hours.

My own tends to vary seasonally and also with how busy I am, but I try to respect a set schedule as much as I can when my life is predictable.

For now it is:

Vigils (Office of Readings) 5:30 AM
Lauds 7:30 AM (6 am in the summer)
Terce 9:45 AM (optional when at home)
Sext Noon
None 3 PM (optional when at home)
Vespers 5 PM
Compline: before bed, usually around 9 pm.

The rubrics say we should respect the verity of the hour, without saying what that is. For me that means no later than about 7 am for Vigils, or no earlier than 7 pm if anticipated the previous evening, Lauds no earlier than sunrise, no later than 9 am; Terce no earlier than 8 am and no later than 11 am, Sext 11 am-2 pm, None 2-4 pm, Vespers 4-8 pm, Compline before bed.

YMMV. These are personal guidelines only.
 
GILH states that it should be prayed to the corresponding hour. If you are an individual praying, you are free to choose what time provided that it is corresponded to the time of day.

I tried having a fixed time for prayer, but it did not work out for me due to interruptions, errands and oversleeping. You really cannot avoid that. Not unless you live in a monastery or a religious community where their time is regulated and they have a schedule, you have to be flexible with regards to the time you individually or with a small group sing/recite the office. Nowadays, I keep a flexible time table for the recitation of the office:

Lauds: Anytime from 5-10 am; depending on the time when I wake up
Sext (During Weekends): Within the hour of 12 pm
Vespers: Anytime from 4-7pm
Compline: Anytime from 8pm til late hours not later than 2 am; depending on what time I sleep
OR: GILH states it be prayed anytime within the day. I prefer returning it to its traditional time of day; that is by evening or before dawn. That is why I pray it just before Lauds when I wake up very early or if I do not, before Compline.
 
porthos11 said:
How about you, Father, since you have an obligation? Is there a “cut-off” wherein your obligation is considered missed? Say, is there a time that’s too late for Morning Prayer, or too early for Evening Prayer?

I’m assuming, of course, that you’re diocesan. Seems to me a priest’s own obligation or that of a permanent deacon can serve as a good model for us laity as well.
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In private, it’s anytime in the morning or in the evening.

On the other hand, if I’m scheduling the Liturgy of the Hours as a parish prayer service, then it’s more strict, but it’s usually not an issue. If anything, we have public evening prayer (usually Advent & Lent). It’s 6 or 7 PM. People typically end work at 5, and anything later than 7 is “too late” for people to be in church (or so they say).
 
fan312 said:
As a person who is trying to set up a schedule for their daily prayer sessions, (which I know is vital to one’s spiritual life) I’ve gotten into the practice of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Now, the question is: “What time do people pray the individual hours?”

Is Morning Prayer any time before 10:00 AM, or does Evening Prayer fall at sunset, or at a specified time?

I’ll take personal recommendations on what times.
Click to expand...
I find that when I wake up early at 5 am, I have time for the Daily Scripture Readings and the Morning Prayer, sometimes I even manage a decade of the Rosary.
If I am at home before 6 pm, then I pray the Evening Prayer at 6 pm or there abouts. Saturdays I normally work late and reach home late so I miss the Evening prayer and instead say the Night Prayer. just before retiring.
Although the recommended times of 6am, 9 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, 6 pm and about 9 pm are just guideline hours, I like to pray close to those hours because then I imagine everyone else saying these prayers all over the world are also praying at these hours, worshiping God; all at the same time. It is a nice feeling; One, Holy, Catholic…🙂
 
FrDavid96 said:
In private, it’s anytime in the morning or in the evening.

On the other hand, if I’m scheduling the Liturgy of the Hours as a parish prayer service, then it’s more strict, but it’s usually not an issue. If anything, we have public evening prayer (usually Advent & Lent). It’s 6 or 7 PM. People typically end work at 5, and anything later than 7 is “too late” for people to be in church (or so they say).
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So just a quick followup about “evening”. What’s considered “too early” either for individual recitation or public celebration? Would you say 4 PM is sufficiently “evening” for Vespers?
 
One of the prayers (I believe it’s one of the prayers–I’m going on memory here) states that we are praying Evening Prayer at the hour Jesus died–when he offered his evening prayer of sacrifice. So, I usually pray EP between 3 and 4 PM. I think that’s appropriate. Any earlier would be too early but later than that is okay, too, for private prayer, as I understand it. 🙂
 
porthos11 said:
So just a quick followup about “evening”. What’s considered “too early” either for individual recitation or public celebration? Would you say 4 PM is sufficiently “evening” for Vespers?
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4 PM is fine.
 
FrDavid96 said:
4 PM is fine.
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4 pm is my own personal cut-off for too early for EP as well. However tomorrow I have choir rehearsal for our Gregorian schola, and I have to leave the house no later than about 4 pm so I cheat a bit and do it at 3:45 on those days (about once or twice a month depending on how often we perform).

When I’m at home though, I try to do fixed times. I recently retired and I find that doing so really helps me structure my day and be more constructive.
 
The rule I was taught was Morning Prayer as close to sunrise as you can manage (I am not a morning person) and Evening Prayer at sunset, so 4PM would be the earliest I would do EP.
 
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