![]() ![]() ![]() Matins (during the night, at about 2 a.m.) also called Vigil and perhaps composed of two or three Nocturns.The eight are known by the following names, which do not reflect the times of day at which in the second millennium they have traditionally been recited, as shown by the use of the word «noon», derived from Latin (hora) nona, to mean midday, not 3 in the afternoon: Of these eight hours, Prime and Compline may be the latest to appear, because the 4th-century Apostolic Constitutions VIII iv 34 do not mention them in the exhortation «Offer up your prayers in the morning, at the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, the evening, and at cock-crowing». He associated the practice with Psalm 118/119:164, «Seven times a day I praise you», and Psalm 118/119:62, «At midnight I rise to praise you». Canonical hours Previous structureīy the time of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the monastic Liturgy of the Hours was composed of seven daytime hours and one at night. Other elements were added later in the course of the centuries. The Christian prayer of that time consisted of almost the same elements as the Jewish: recital or chanting of psalms, reading of the Old Testament, to which were soon added readings of the Gospels, Acts, and epistles, and canticles. The Apostles observed the Jewish custom of praying at the third, sixth, and ninth hours, and at midnight (Acts 10:3, 9 16:25 etc.). In the Psalms are found expressions like «in the morning I offer you my prayer» «At midnight I will rise and thank you» «Evening, morning and at noon I will cry and lament» «Seven times a day I praise you». OriginsĮarly Christians continued the Jewish practice of reciting prayers at certain hours of the day or night. Other names in Latin liturgical rites for the Liturgy of the Hours include «Diurnal and Nocturnal Office», «Ecclesiastical Office», Cursus ecclesiasticus, or simply cursus. The Lutheran counterpart is contained in the liturgical books used by the various Lutheran church bodies. ![]() Anglican Liturgy of the Hours is contained in the book of Daily Prayer of Common Worship and the Book of Common Prayer, as well as in the Anglican Breviary. In the Byzantine Rite, the corresponding services are found in the Ὡρολόγιον (Horologion), meaning Book of Hours. Before 1971, the official form for the Latin Church was the Breviarium Romanum, first published in 1568. The three-volume Divine Office, which uses a range of different English Bibles for the readings from Scripture, was published in 1974 the four-volume Liturgy of the Hours, with Scripture readings from the New American Bible, appeared in 1975. English translations were soon produced and were made official for their territories by the competent episcopal conferences. Within the Latin Church, the present official form of the entire Liturgy of the Hours is that contained in the four-volume publication Liturgia Horarum, the first edition of which appeared in 1971. Christians of both Western and Eastern traditions (including the Latin Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Anglican, Lutheran, and some other Protestant churches) celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours in various forms and under various names. The Liturgy of the Hours, along with the Eucharist, has formed part of the Church’s public worship from the earliest times. ![]() The laity are under no public obligation to do so, but may oblige themselves to do so by personal vow, and «are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually». The constitutions of religious institutes generally oblige their members to celebrate at least parts and in some cases to do so jointly («in choir»). The Liturgy of the Hours also forms the basis of prayer within Christian monasticism.īenedictine monks singing vespers, which is part of the Liturgy of the HoursĬelebration of the Liturgy of the Hours is an obligation undertaken by priests and deacons intending to become priests, while deacons intending to remain deacons are obliged to recite only a part. Together with the Mass, it constitutes the official public prayer life of the Church. It consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns, readings and other prayers and antiphons. The Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: Liturgia Horarum) or Divine Office (Latin: Officium Divinum) or Work of God (Latin: Opus Dei) or canonical hours, often referred to as the Breviary, is the official set of prayers «marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer». ![]()
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