Liturgy of the Hours

Within Holy Mother Church there is a great treasury of devotions and prayers that we can use to grow in our closeness to Jesus Christ. Perhaps the most well-known and widely spread of these—at least in the West—is the Holy Rosary, which is prayed as a daily devotion by both laymen and clergy alike. But, as far as I know of, it is not a requirement for anyone, save perhaps some obscure religious order or personal vow. There is, however, a prayer that is more ancient and also required for clergy and religious, this being the Liturgy of the Hours, otherwise known as the Divine Office.

To briefly summarize, the Liturgy of the Hours consists in the reading of selected Psalms throughout the day, divided into different hours. This follows a practice that is not merely limited to Christianity, but was even observed by Jews prior to the birth of Jesus Christ. And although it has changed in its form throughout the centuries, the essence of it (the Psalms) has remained the same.

During my conversion to Catholicism, this kind of prayer was something very commonly practiced in the youth group I was a part of—perhaps as a way for the priest to pray his required hours while spending time with us. I was not aware that, as it would seem, this is not something that laymen typically pray, at least from what I can tell from American Catholic media. Yet this devotion devotion has often been my anchor of daily prayer, facilitating a familiarity with the Psalms, while also giving structure and uniting me to the Universal Church by keeping me in touch with the liturgical celebration of every day, learning of the many saints of God.

Throughout the day there are seven different Hours: three major and four minor. In the major Hours we have the Office Readings, Lauds, and Vespers; in the minor Hours we have Terce, Sext, None, and Compline. It is not necessary to pray all the Hours as a layman; I myself only pray Lauds and Compline with my wife. These Hours are distributed throughout the day, and only take between 15 to 20 minutes to pray.

If you are interested in praying with them there are many phone apps and websites that will give you the readings for each Hour, though if you find that you truly wish to incorporate this into your daily routine of prayer I would seriously recommend investing in a Breviary, which will contain Lauds, the Intermediate Hours (i.e. Terce, Sext, and None), Vespers, and Compline. It takes a bit to get used to the ribbons, but if you’re used to using a Roman Missal then it should be rather familiar already. The benefit of the Breviary is that you avoid distractions and it’s easier to bring with you on a retreat where you will likely wish to disconnect from the broader world.

I write this to recommend my readers consider this devotion in their life of prayer, that the Psalms may seep into their daily lives, and that they may echo throughout their day. The Psalms are a treasure of the People of God with which the saints have always prayed, and even our Lord himself had the words of one of these Psalms on his lips in his final moments before he expired.