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The Liturgy of the Hours:
Sanctifying the Day and Night
by Patrick G. O’Neill
======================As published in Our Sunday Visitor's national magazine "The Catholic Answer" - Volume 10 - Number 3 in the July/August 1996 edition.
A great treasure chest of holy truths of the Catholic Church is found in The Liturgy of the Hours. A masterpiece, drawing 95 percent of its content from Sacred Scripture, it is pure gold and silver seven times refined. It is called "The echo of the Mass". The Liturgy of the Hours is also called the Divine Office and the Breviary. This "official" prayer of the Catholic Church is prayed daily in unity throughout the entire world.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Eucharistic mystery, is always "the essential act of religious worship, around which all the other liturgical offices or rites gravitate as towards their center of gravity," says the introduction to The Hours of the Day of the Roman Breviary.
The Mass remains the official core of our Christian Faith, "the center and apex of the whole life of the Christian community," says Christus Dominus (the Decree on the Pastoral Office of the Bishops in the Church, from the Second Vatican Council, no. 30). The sacraments continue as the visible signs conferring God’s grace as instituted by Christ. But, The Liturgy of the Hours, along with these conduits of grace, also holds the elevated status of "official liturgy" in the Church because it too was handed down by Christ himself to the Church he established.
Through the Magisterium of the Church, The Liturgy of the Hours is passed on to all the Christian faithful, and falls within the definition of "sacred liturgy" in the fullest official sense. Originating from the Jewish Psalter (The Book of Psalms), it is formed around the 150 psalms of the Old Testament, which are recited over a four-week cycle.
Pope Paul VI opened his 1970 apostolic constitution Laudis Canticum by calling the Liturgy of the Hours "the hymn of praise that is sung through all the ages in the heavenly places and was brought by High Priest, Christ Jesus, into this land of exile."
The Divine Office links the Old and the New the Testaments, blending the two in a unity that flows throughout the whole of it. The Office is centered on the psalms, the same prayers that Christ himself, St. Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles prayed in the synagogues. These same prayers were continued by the early martyrs, the Church Fathers and the entire Church to this very day.
This collection of perfect prayers honors God the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ, in such a way that the Father readily accepts them from us as he would were they coming directly from Christ. It is Christ’s prayer to the Father, continued by the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.
The Psalms are perfect prayers because the author is the Holy Spirit, "the principal author of all Sacred Scripture," according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church ( no. 304). The prayers of the Office serve as an introduction to the Father, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit. "God speaks to us through the Psalms and in them the Holy Spirit gives us the right words to speak to the Father; and through them develops in us the attitude that every man should have towards God," reads the Introduction to the Psalms, Jerusalem bible, 1966.
As sources of personal prayer, Christ gave us the Our Father, the Holy Spirit gave us the Psalms, and the Magisterium of the Church has given us The Liturgy of the Hours.
Pope John Paul II explains the role of the Holy Spirit in personal prayer in his book "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" by quoting St. Paul: "The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings" (Rom 8:26).
The Pope writes, "We must pray with "inexpressible groanings’ in order to enter into rhythm with the Spirit’s own entreaties. To obtain forgiveness, one must implore, becoming part of the loud cries of Christ the Redeemer (Heb 5:7). Prayer is always an ‘Opus gloriae’ a work, a labor of glory." When we pray the Psalms and the entire Office in Christ through our baptismal union with him, using the words inspired by the Holy Spirit, we can be assured the Father not only hears our prayers, but is pleased with them. In praying the Office daily with devotion, one becomes molded and transformed by it in a way that makes us more pleasing to God.
The Liturgy of the Hours is a fountain, a geyser, pouring out the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in a cascade drenching the soul. Capturing it all in a single pass is like trying to capture a waterfall in a pail. Like the Mass, we must return to it again and again, daily. Here is a limitless source of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, strength (fortitude), piety and fear of the Lord - the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit described by St. Thomas Aquinas as abiding dispositions which perfect human beings so that we may readily follow the Holy Spirit’s own promptings.
Through the revisions of Vatican II, the post-midnight prayer, formerly called Matins, was renamed the Office of Readings and approved for any hour. Lauds was restructured into Morning Prayer and the hour called Prime was suppressed, as an unnecessary duplication of Lauds.
The Office of Readings is a treasure chest in itself, offering a rich blend of the very best of post-biblical spiritual writings collected over 2,000 years of Church history. This collection of unmatched classics contains original writings, letters and sermons of the early Church Fathers, together with discourses and commentaries of the greatest saints emerging over the past 20 centuries. The wisdom quoted ranges literally from A to Z, from Albert the Great to Zeno of Verona.
Hidden truths are mystically revealed in this compendium of inspired prayers, which are at one and the same time personal and collective, connecting the human with the divine. Insights from the Magisterium of Christ’s own Church sparkle like diamonds through excerpts taken from the most notable encyclicals, papal documents, councils and synods over the centuries.
The whole of The Liturgy of the Hours is divided into seven smaller offices, with the prayers changing daily. The appointed times of the seven offices offer flexibility depending on one’s state in life: the Office of Readings, from midnight to 6 a.m.; Morning Prayer (formerly Lauds), from dawn to 6 a.m.; Midmorning Prayer (formerly Terce), 9 a.m.; Midday Prayer (formerly Sext), 12 noon; Midafternoon Prayer (formerly None), 3 p.m.; Evening Prayer (formerly Vespers), sunset, 6 p.m.; Night Prayer (formerly Compline), final prayer closing the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is arranged to harmonize with the readings and feast days celebrated at daily Mass.
Each office opens with a selection of centuries-old hymns, and the psalms are laced with canticles, antiphons, verses and selected short readings, all taken from Sacred Scripture - both the Old and New Testaments. Six of the seven offices open with the intercession: "God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me." But this plea for individual help is not left on its own without a balance of praise. It is followed immediately by the Doxology, the prayer of adoration praising the Holy Trinity, a prayer given such importance it is also repeated at the end of each psalm and canticle: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen."
Other "songs" taken from Sacred Scripture, called canticles, include three from the Gospel of St.
Luke, so profound they are recited daily as a communal prayer. The "Canticle of Zechariah" (Benedictus) in Morning Prayer restates the affirmation of the father of John the Baptist: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel . . . (Lk 1:68-79); the dazzling beauty of the Magnificat in Evening Prayer voices the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary greeting Elizabeth at the Visitation: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior . . . (Lk 1-46-55); and in Night Prayer, the "Canticle of Simeon" (Nunc dimittis) closes the day of prayer: Lord, now you let your servant go in peace ... (Lk 2:29-32).
There is a profusion of spirituality in the Divine Office. The original writings and discourses of the 167 saints, early Fathers and Doctors of the Church, holy pontiffs and those recently beatified unfold over the course of a single year.
There are 93 discourses from the formidable St. Augustine, whose
brilliance and eloquence inspires with the driving power of the Apostle Paul; 26 sermons from St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church; the best addresses from Pope St. Leo the Great, which reveal to the world just why he is called "the Great"; and sermons from St. John Chrysostom, called "Golden Mouth" because his compelling discourses moved his own generation and many more that followed.
St. Louis, the King of France, and St. Stephen, King of Hungary, each wrote inspiring letters of instruction to their sons, preparing them to take their place on the throne. Those letters, steeped in holiness, are examples of the riches offered in the Office of Readings, where the Church rolls out the best of the best, two at a time daily, like vitamin pills.
Found also in the Office of Readings are the keynote addresses of the Prophets selected from the Old Testament, such as the book of
Deuteronomy’s final discourses of Moses, addressing the Hebrews upon reaching the Promised Land. The Divine Office is a grand symphony of praise, adoration, thanksgiving, personal atonement, collective and individual intercession, the perfect components of prayer, all directed toward the honor and glory of God the Father. Overflowing with beauty, it lifts the soul to the very throne of God.
A restructuring of the Office began with Pope John XXIII in 1960. In 1963, he commissioned the Second Vatican Council to complete the revisions,
which were finally approved by Pope Paul VI on Nov. 1, 1970. The Latin version was completed by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship on April 11, 1971. It was then translated into the vernacular of several nations, with the English version produced by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy in 1975. In that year, the Catholic Book Publishing Company released the completed work used in the United States in a four-volume set.
Pope Paul VI commended the completed Latin work, which took seven years to finish, as "done with such thoroughness and skill, such spirituality and power, that there is scarcely a parallel to it in the entire history of the Church." With the promulgation of the revised Office, Pope Paul VI called for all the Christian faithful, laity included, to offer this prayer daily.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to The Liturgy of the Hours
as "so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God. In this public prayer of the Church, the faithful (clergy, religious and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized. Celebrated in the form approved by the Church, The Liturgy of the Hours is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself, together with his mystical body, addresses to the Father" (no. 1174).
With the release of the Catechism, the Church issued a pastoral call for broader use of The Liturgy of the Hours in parishes: "Pastors of souls should see to it that the principal hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and on the more solemn feasts. The laity, too, are encouraged to recite the Divine Office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually" (no. 1175).
The Liturgy of the Hours mirrors the "marks" of the Church. It is "one" by uniting all members of the Mystical Body of Christ in the same prayer with Christ to the Father. It is "holy" in lifting the mind and heart to God and sanctifying the entire day. It is "catholic" by the universality of the prayers shared daily by the Church throughout the world. And through its collective intercessions for the salvation of the whole world, it is "apostolic."
This marvelous book may well be the storehouse of spiritual riches and wealth referred to in Psalm 112: Happy the man who fears the Lord, who takes delight in all his commands . . . riches and wealth are in his house.
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About the Author:
Patrick O'Neill was educated by the Benedictine Monks at Mt. Angel Abbey in Oregon. His background includes five years seminary training and in 1998 he established the Catholic internet website Catholic Radio Dramas.com. He is an enrolled Knight of the Immaculata and writes from Newport Beach, California.Contact the author by e-mail: pat@catholicradiodramas.com
