188. Liturgy of the Hours

Liturgy of the Hours

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 188

Ave Maria series

188  What is the Liturgy of the Hours?

The Liturgy of the Hours is the universal, public prayer of the Church.  Biblical readings lead the person who prays it ever deeper into the mystery of the life of Jesus Christ.  Throughout the world this gives the Triune God the opportunity at every hour of the day to transform gradually those who pray and also the world.  The Liturgy of the Hours is prayed not only by priests and religious.  Many Christians who take their faith seriously join their voices with the many thousands of praises and petitions that ascend to God from all over the world.  [1174-1178, 1196]

Trappist-Cistercian  monks at Holy  Spirit Monastery Church, Conyers, Georgia chanting a portion of the Divine Office on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday). ….188

The seven “hours of prayer” are like a treasury of the Church’s prayers.  It also loosens our tongues when we have become speechless because of joy, sorrow, or fear.  Again and again one is astonished in reciting the Liturgy of the Hours; an entire reading “coincidentally” applies precisely to my situation.  God hears us when we call to him.  He answers us in these texts—often in a way that is so specific as to be almost disconcerting.  In any case he also allows us to have long periods of silence and dryness so that we can demonstrate our fidelity.  473, 492

[1174-1178, 1196]

The Liturgy of the Hours

1174 The mystery of Christ, his Incarnation and Passover, which we celebrate in the Eucharist especially at the Sunday assembly, permeates and transfigures the time of each day, through the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, "the divine office."( compare Sacrsanctum Concilium, Ch. IV,83-101)⁴⁶  This celebration, faithful to the apostolic exhortations to "pray constantly," is "so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God."( Sacrosanctum Concilium 84; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18)⁴⁷ In this "public prayer of the Church," the faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized.( Sacrosanctum Concilium 98)⁴⁸  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 Body addresses to the Father.( Sacrosanctum Concilium 84)⁴⁹  --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

1175 The Liturgy of the Hours is intended to become the prayer of the whole People of God. In it Christ himself "continues his priestly work through his Church."( Sacrosanctum Concilium 83)⁵⁰ His members participate according to their own place in the Church and the circumstances of their lives: priests devoted to the pastoral ministry, because they are called to remain diligent in prayer and the service of the word; religious, by the charism of their consecrated lives; all the faithful as much as possible: "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."( Sacrpsanctum Concilium 100; compare SC 86; SC 96; SC 98; Presbyterorum Ordinis 5)⁵¹ –CCC

1176   The celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours demands not only harmonizing the voice with the praying heart, but also a deeper "understanding of the liturgy and of the Bible, especially of the Psalms."( Sacrosanctum Concilium 90)⁵²  –CCC

1177 The hymns and litanies of the Liturgy of the Hours integrate the prayer of the psalms into the age of the Church, expressing the symbolism of the time of day, the liturgical season, or the feast being celebrated. Moreover, the reading from the Word of God at each Hour (with the subsequent responses or troparia) and readings from the Fathers and spiritual masters at certain Hours, reveal more deeply the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, assist in understanding the psalms, and prepare for silent prayer. The lectio divina, where the Word of God is so read and meditated that it becomes prayer, is thus rooted in the liturgical celebration. –CCC

1178 The Liturgy of the Hours, which is like an extension of the Eucharistic celebration, does not exclude but rather in a complementary way calls forth the various devotions of the People of God, especially adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament. –CCC

IN BRIEF

1196 The faithful who celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours are united to Christ our high priest, by the prayer of the Psalms, meditation on the Word of God, and canticles and blessings, in order to be joined with his unceasing and universal prayer that gives glory to the Father and implores the gift of the Holy Spirit on the whole world. –CCC

Church  Monks at prayer