Liturgy of the Hours
The Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: Liturgia Horarum), Divine Office (Latin: Officium Divinum), or Opus Dei ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours,[a] often also referred to as the breviary,[b] of the Latin Church. The Liturgy of the Hours forms the official set of prayers "marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer."[4] The term "Liturgy of the Hours" has been retroactively applied to the practices of saying the canonical hours in both the Christian East and West–particularly within the Latin liturgical rites–prior to the Second Vatican Council,[5] and is the official term for the canonical hours promulgated for usage by the Latin Church in 1971.[6] Before 1971, the official form for the Latin Church was the Breviarium Romanum, first published in 1568 with major editions through 1962.
This article is about the public prayer of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. For other liturgical rites of the Catholic Church and other communions, see Canonical hours.
The Liturgy of the Hours, like many other forms of the canonical hours, consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns, readings, and other prayers and antiphons prayed at fixed prayer times.[7] Together with the Mass, it constitutes the public prayer of the church. Christians of both Western and Eastern traditions (including the Latin Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Lutheran, Anglican, and some other Protestant churches) celebrate the canonical hours in various forms and under various names. The chant or recitation of the Divine Office therefore forms the basis of prayer within the consecrated life, with some of the monastic or mendicant orders producing their own permutations of the Liturgy of the Hours and older Roman Breviary.[2]
Prayer of the Divine Office 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.[8][9] The constitutions of religious institutes generally oblige their members to celebrate at least parts and in some cases to do so jointly ("in choir").[10] Consecrated virgins take the duty to celebrate the liturgy of hours with the rite of consecration.[11] Within the Latin Church, the lay faithful "are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually", though there is no obligation for them to do so. The laity may oblige themselves to pray the Liturgy of the Hours or part of it by a personal vow.[12]
The present official form of the entire Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Rite is that contained in the four-volume Latin-language publication Liturgia Horarum, the first edition of which appeared in 1971. English and other vernacular translations were soon produced and were made official for their territories by the competent episcopal conferences. For Catholics in primarily Commonwealth nations, 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 with approval from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.[13] The 1989 English translation of the Ceremonial of Bishops includes in Part III instructions on the Liturgy of the Hours which the bishop presides, for example the vesper on major solemnities.[14]
Origins[edit]
The General Instruction of the Liturgy of Hours in the Roman Rite states: "The public and communal prayer of the people of God is rightly considered among the first duties of the Church. From the very beginning the baptized 'remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers' (Acts 2 :42). Many times the Acts of the Apostles testifies that the Christian community prayed together. The testimony of the early Church shows that individual faithful also devoted themselves to prayer at certain hours. In various areas the practice soon gained ground of devoting special times to prayer in common."[6]
Early Christians were in fact continuing the Jewish practice of reciting prayers at certain hours of the day or night. In the Psalms are found expressions like "in the morning I offer you my prayer";[15] "At midnight I will rise and thank you";[16] "Evening, morning and at noon I will cry and lament"; "Seven times a day I praise you". 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.).[17] Hence the practice of seven fixed prayer times has been taught from the time of the early Church; in Apostolic Tradition, Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times a day "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion."[18][19][20][21]
The Christian prayer of that time consisted of almost the same elements as the Jewish: recital or chanting of psalms and reading of the Old Testament, to which were soon added readings of the Gospels, Acts, and epistles, and canticles.[22] Other elements were added later in the course of the centuries.
Roman Rite since the Council of Trent[edit]
Revision by Pope Pius V[edit]
The Council of Trent in its final session on 4 December 1563 entrusted the reform of the breviary to the then pope, Pius IV.[26] On 9 July 1568, Pope Pius V, the successor to Pius IV who closed the Council of Trent, promulgated an edition, known as the Roman Breviary, with his Apostolic Constitution Quod a nobis, imposing it in the same way in which, two years later, he imposed his Roman Missal and using language very similar to that in the bull Quo primum with which he promulgated the Missal, regarding, for instance, the perpetual force of its provisions, the obligation to use the promulgated text in all places, and the total prohibition of adding or omitting anything, declaring in fact: "No one whosoever is permitted to alter this letter or heedlessly to venture to go contrary to this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, indult declaration, will decree and prohibition. Should anyone, however, presume to commit such an act, he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul."[27][c]
With the same bull, Pius V ordered the general abolition of all breviaries other than his reformed breviary, with the same exception that he was to make in his Quo primum bull: he allowed those legitimately in use for at least 200 years to continue.[28] Examples of such breviaries are the Benedictine (Breviarium Monasticum),[29] the Carmelite,[30] the Carthusian,[31] the Dominican,[32] the Premonstratensian,[33] and the Ambrosian.[34]
St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, along with the four churches under its jurisdiction, retained its own unique liturgies, psalms, and Latin translations into the 19th century. Many other churches whose local rites predated Pius V's breviary by 200 years or more, such as that of Mantua, continued to use their own breviaries, liturgical calendars, and psalms, as well.[35]
Further revision between the 16th to 20th centuries[edit]
Later popes altered the Roman Breviary of Pope Pius V. Pope Clement VIII instituted obligatory changes on 10 May 1602, 34 years after Pius V's revision. Pope Urban VIII made further changes, including "a profound alteration in the character of some of the hymns. Although some of them without doubt gained in literary style, nevertheless, to the regret of many, they also lost something of their old charm of simplicity and fervour."[36]
Pope Pius X made a radical revision of the Roman Breviary, to be put into effect, at latest, on 1 January 1913. See Reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X.
Pope Pius XII allowed the use of a new translation of the Psalms from the Hebrew and established a special commission to study a general revision, concerning which all the Catholic bishops were consulted in 1955. His successor, Pope John XXIII, implemented these revisions in 1960.
By the time of Benedict of Nursia (480–548 AD), the monastic Divine Office was composed of seven daytime hours and one at night. In his Rule of St. Benedict, 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".[42] 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".[43] 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,[44][45] to mean midday, not 3 in the afternoon:
This arrangement of the Divine Office is described by Benedict. However, it is found in John Cassian's Twelve books on the institutes of the coenobia and the remedies for the eight principal faults, which describe the monastic practices of the Desert Fathers of Egypt.[46]
Usage[edit]
The invitatory precedes the canonical hours of the day beginning with the versicle "Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise" (Ps 50/51 v.17), and continuing with an antiphon and the Invitatory Psalm, usually Psalm 94/95.
All psalms and canticles are accompanied by antiphons.
Unless the invitatory is used, each hour begins with the versicle "O God, come to our aid: O Lord, make haste to help us" (Ps 69/70 v.2) The "Glory be to the Father" follows.[55]
Matins or the Office of Readings is the longest hour. Before the reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X, Matins involved the recitation of 18 psalms on Sundays and 12 on ferial days. Pope Pius X reduced this to nine psalms or portions of psalms, still arranged in three nocturns, each set of three psalms followed by three readings, usually three consecutive sections from the same text. Pope Paul VI's reform reduced the number of psalms or portions of psalms to three, and the readings to two, but lengthened these. On Sundays outside of Lent, during the octaves of Easter and Christmas, on solemnities and feasts, the Te Deum is sung after the second reading with its responsory.
After Pius X's reform, Lauds was reduced to four psalms or portions of psalms and an Old Testament canticle, putting an end to the custom of adding the last three psalms of the Psalter (148–150) at the end of Lauds every day. The number of psalms or portions of psalms is now reduced to two, together with one Old Testament canticle chosen from a wider range than before. After these there is a short reading and response and the singing or recitation of the Benedictus.
Vespers has a very similar structure, differing in that Pius X assigned to it five psalms (now reduced to two psalms and a New Testament canticle) and the Magnificat took the place of the Benedictus. On some days in Pius X's arrangement, but now always, there follow Preces or intercessions. In the present arrangement, the Lord's Prayer is also recited before the concluding prayer.
Terce, Sext and None have an identical structure, each with three psalms or portions of psalms. These are followed by a short reading from Scripture, once referred to as a "little chapter" (capitulum), and by a versicle and response. The Lesser Litany (Kyrie and the Lord's Prayer) of Pius X's arrangement have now been omitted.
Prime and Compline also were of similar structure, though different from Terce, Sext and None.
Books used[edit]
In monasteries and cathedrals, celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours became more elaborate. Served by monks or canons, regular celebration required a Psalter for the psalms, a lectionary for the Scripture readings, other books for patristic and hagiographical readings, a collectary for the orations, and also books such as the antiphonary and the responsoriary for the various chants. These were usually of large size, to enable several monks to chant together from the same book. Smaller books called breviaries (a word that etymologically refers to a compendium or abridgment) were developed to indicate the format of the daily office and assist in identifying the texts to be chosen.
These developed into books that gave in abbreviated form (because they omitted the chants) and in small lettering the whole of the texts, and so could be carried when travelling. Pope Innocent III made them official in the Roman Curia, and the itinerant Franciscan friars adopted the Breviarium Curiae and soon spread its use throughout Europe. By the 14th century, these breviaries contained the entire text of the canonical hours. The invention of printing made it possible to produce them in great numbers.
In its final session, the Council of Trent entrusted to the Pope the revision of the breviary.[56] With his Apostolic Constitution Quod a nobis of 9 July 1568, Pope Pius V promulgated an edition of the breviary, known as the Roman Breviary, which he imposed in the same way in which, two years later, he imposed his Roman Missal. Using language very similar to that in the bull Quo primum, with which he promulgated the Missal – regarding, for instance, the perpetual force of its provisions – he made it obligatory to use the promulgated text everywhere.[27]
He totally prohibited adding or omitting anything: "No one whosoever is permitted to alter this letter or heedlessly to venture to go contrary to this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, indult declaration, will decree and prohibition. Should anyone, however, presume to commit such an act, he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul."[27]
It is obvious that he did not thereby intend to bind his successors. Pope Clement VIII made changes that he made obligatory on 10 May 1602, 34 years after Pius V's revision. Urban VIII made further changes, including "a profound alteration in the character of some of the hymns. Although some of them without doubt gained in literary style, nevertheless, to the regret of many, they also lost something of their old charm of simplicity and fervour."[36] For the profound revision of the book by Pope Pius X see Reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X.
Finally, a new revision was made by Pope Paul VI with his Apostolic Constitution Laudis Canticum of 1 November 1970.[57]
Many of the complicated rubrics (or instructions) that governed recitation of the Liturgy were clarified, and the actual method of praying the office was made simpler. Prime had already been abolished by the Second Vatican Council. Of the three intermediate Hours of Terce, Sext and None, only one was to be of strict obligation. Recitation of the psalms and a much increased number of canticles was spread over four weeks instead of one. By a personal decision of Pope Paul VI against the majority view of the revising commission,[58] three imprecatory psalms (58, 83, and 109) were omitted from the psalter and some similar verses were omitted from other psalms, as indicated in the heading of each. These omissions, lamented by Joseph Briody,[59] are attributed in the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours of 1971 to "certain psychological difficulties, even though the imprecatory psalms themselves may be found quoted in the New Testament, e.g. Rev 6:10, and in no way are intended to be used as curses".[60]
Two typical editions of the revised Liturgy of the Hours (Liturgia Horarum) according to the Roman Rite have been published by Rome. The current typical edition is the Liturgia Horarum, editio typica altera, promulgated in 1985 (printed between 1985 and 1987, and reprinted in 2000). This uses the New Vulgate Latin Bible for the readings, psalms and canticles rather than the Clementina.
It has changed the text of some of the readings and responsories in line with the New Vulgate, and it provides the Benedictus and Magnificat on each Sunday with three antiphons that reflect the three-year cycle of Gospel readings. Pope Urban VIII's lamented alterations of the hymns are undone. Verse numberings are added to the Psalms and the longer Scripture readings, while the Psalms are given both the Septuagint numbering and (in parentheses) that of the Masoretic text. New texts, taken from the Missale Romanum, have been added in an appendix for solemn blessings and the penitential acts.
Thus far, this second Latin typical edition has only been translated in the "Liturgy of the Hours for Africa" The earlier edition has appeared in two English translations, one under the title "Liturgy of the Hours", the other as "The Divine Office".
The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours is the official Papal document regulating the praying and ceremony of the Liturgy of the Hours. It was first promulgated in 1971.
Obligation of recitation[edit]
In the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, bishops, priests, and deacons planning to become priests are obliged to recite the full sequence of the hours each day, observing as closely as possible the associated times of day, and using the text of the approved liturgical books that apply to them.[6][61] Permanent deacons are to do so to the extent determined by their episcopal conference.[61] Members of institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, or other religious associations (e.g., Benedictine oblates, Third Order Dominicans) who are not clerics and are therefore not necessarily subject to these obligations are bound according to the norm of their constitutions.[62] Members of such institutes and societies who are deacons, priests, or bishops remain bound to their more severe obligation as clergy.
Latin Church clerics can lawfully fulfill their obligation to pray the Office using the edition of the Roman Breviary promulgated by John XXIII in 1961 rather than the current edition of the Liturgy of the Hours.[63] While the 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum states that communities belonging to institutes of religious life and societies of apostolic life require authorization only by their major superiors to use the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal for their conventual or community Mass frequently, habitually or permanently;[64] it makes no such statement regarding use of the 1962 Roman Breviary, which could be allowed by their constitutions.
Laity, especially if they are involved in ministries of the church (lector, cantor, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, catechists, religious education directors or school principals, altar servers, those contemplating religious life or the seminary), are strongly encouraged to participate.
The constitutions of some institutes of consecrated life, in particular many congregations of Benedictine monks and nuns but also others, oblige them to follow an arrangement of the Psalter whereby all the psalms are recited in the course of a single week, partly through an extension of the Office of Readings, and by maintaining the Hour of Prime.
