83. Christ Jesus, high priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven. He joins the entire community of mankind to Himself, associating it with His own singing of this canticle of divine praise.
Sacrosanctum Concilium (Document on the Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council
For he continues His priestly work through the agency of His Church, which is ceaselessly engaged in praising the Lord and interceding for the salvation of the whole world. She does this, not only by celebrating the Eucharist, but also in other ways, especially by praying the Divine Office (The Liturgy of the Hours).
84. By tradition going back to early Christian times, the Divine Office is devised so that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praises of God. Therefore, when this wonderful song of praise is rightly performed by priests and others who are deputed for this purpose by the Church’s ordinance, or by the faithful praying together with the priest in the approved form, then it is truly the voice of the bride addressed to her bridegroom;
It is the very prayer which Christ Himself, together with His body, addresses to the Father.
The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the Church. It is part of the Church’s Liturgy. All ordained ministers are bound to pray the hours everyday. All religious are bound by their community’s Rule of Life to pray it in whole or in part. Often times, this prayer is only associated with those in Holy Orders or Consecrated Life, but the Church desires all to pray this prayer.
After the Second Vatican Council, the Liturgy of the Hours was reformed with the aim of making it easier to understand and more accessible to the whole Church. In this current time of COVID-19, when many of us are away from the Mass and the Eucharist, there is a great opportunity for the whole Church to dive deep into the Liturgy of the Hours.
Where do I get a copy?
The printed version of the Liturgy of the Hours comes in a four-volume set and can be ordered through your local Catholic book store or online. It is also accessible online for free. The two best options are the iBreviary App and the Universalis App.
How does it work?
Once you have the book or the app, you will find that it is probably one of the most confusing books/apps you will ever own. It doesn’t have to be! If you have the app, you simply scroll along. If you are using the book it is a little more complicated, but have no fear!
Understanding the Structure
If you understand the over-all structure of each hour, it will be easier to know what you need to pray.
In general, each hour has the following structure:
1) Introductory Verse
2) Hymn
3) Psalmody
4) Reading
5) Response
[Morning, Evening, and Night Prayer]
a) Gospel Canticle
[Morning and Evening Prayer]
b) Intercessions
c) Our Father
6) Closing Prayer
7) Invocation of Blessing
General Points
There are few things you will notice when you open up the app or book. The first thing is that there are only two colors: black and red. Red are instructions, black are the words you say.
In the book version there are different major sections. 1) The Proper of Time; 2) the Ordinary (all the instructions and rules) 3) the Psalter; 4) the Proper of the Saints; 5) the Commons; 6) an Appendix. The best thing to do is find the Ordinary, because it will tell you the pages for each volume where you find the parts.
Each psalm has a Psalm-Prayer assigned to it, along with a heading and a verse from the New Testament. None of these are required, but are helpful to understand how a Christian prays with each particular psalm. To pray a psalm, you say the antiphon, then the psalm, then the doxology (more below), and finally the antiphon again.
The Doxology (a statement of praise): the prayer you might be familiar with from the Rosary has a slightly different translation that the Church uses for the Liturgy of the Hours. You will find it on the app after every psalm. If you are using the book, you just have to memorize it. “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.” Every psalm or canticle ends with a doxology.
On the app, if you see a +, that means make the Sign of the Cross while saying the words. In the Psalmody you will see a large cross and an *. These are mainly used for when you are signing the psalms, but an * means to pause briefly. A full cross means to not stop even though it is the end of line. Otherwise, a brief pause is made at each period.
Morning Prayer
Morning Prayer is one of the two major hours of the day (along with Evening Prayer). Unless you want to pray the Office of Readings (which will be a later addition to this post), MP is the first hour of the day. Its structure is all of the points above. The Psalmody for Morning Prayer is always: psalm, canticle, psalm. The Gospel Canticle for this hour is the Benedictus; the first words of Zachariah when his mouth was opened after the naming of John the Baptist.
Daytime Prayer
This is one of the shorter hours. It has a simple structure, it has no Gospel Canticle, Intercessions, or Our Father. The Psalmody is always three psalms (or one psalm divided into three parts). During this hour, for the majority of the year, there is only one antiphon. The antiphon is said at the beginning of the first psalm and then repeated after the “Glory to…” of the third psalm.
Technically, there are three day-time hours, but most priests are only bound to pray one of them. The reason to mention this is you will probably see some sort of notice (in both the app and book) about a “complementary psalmody.” If you are only praying one of the daytime hours, you don’t need to worry about the complementary psalmody.
Evening Prayer
This hour is exactly like Morning Prayer in structure. The psalmody is made up of a psalm, another psalm, and a New Testament Canticle. The Gospel Canticle for this hour is the Magnificat; the hymn that Mary sang at the Visitation when John the Baptist leaped in the womb of Elizabeth at the presence of Christ. This hour also has intercessions (which always end with a prayer for the dead) and an Our Father.
Night Prayer
The final hour of the day is Night Prayer. This hour is slightly different than the others, but is very straightforward. After the Introductory Verse, an examination of conscience is done. Then the hymn follows. There is generally one psalm (sometimes two) and an antiphon. Then a reading, response and a Gospel Canticle. The Gospel Canticle for this hour is the Nunc Dimitis, the canticle Simeon sang at the presentation of Christ in the Temple. Then the final prayer is prayed and the invocation “May the all-powerful Lord grant us a restful night, and a peaceful death” ends the hour. It is the long standing practice that after Night Prayer, a Marian Hymn is sung. It is helpful to think of it as the Church’s lullaby. For Feb. 2 all the way through Lent it is the Ave Regina Caelorum. For Easter, the Regina Caeli. For Ordinary Time, the Salve Regina. And for Advent to the Feast of the Presentation (Feb. 2), the Alma Redemptoris Mater. (All of these are available in English and Latin through these links.
Want to learn more? Check out these links:
USCCB
A How-To Guide for Beginners
Where did we get this prayer?