What is Divine Office?
“From ancient times the Church has had the custom of celebrating each day the liturgy of the hours. In this way the Church fulfills the Lord’s precept to pray without ceasing, at once offering its praise to God the Father and interceding for the salvation of the world.” – Office of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship.
The Ministry of Divine Office has a mission to gather assets beneficial to our community in praying the Liturgy of the Hours. We appreciate contributions from you. Please leave your suggestions or links as a comment and we will incorporate the most useful materials into this site.
So what is the Liturgy of the Hours?
The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the whole People of God. In it, Christ himself “continues his priestly work through his Church.” His members participate according to their own place in the Church and the circumstances of their lives. The laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office either with the priests, among themselves, or individually.
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.”
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 the deeper meanings of the mystery being celebrated, assist in understanding the psalms, and help one 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.
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.
The worship “in Spirit and in truth” of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the “living stones,” gathered to be “built into a spiritual house.” The Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water emanates. Incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, “we are the temple of the living God.”
Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Two, Section One, Chapter Two.
Excerpts from the English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) ©1974, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:25
I kept praising God when I found this site. Nobody taught me how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. I could still remember I was 9 years old when I saw the Parish Priest – he’s dead now – reading a thick small book at regular intervals during the day. It was the Breviary. I got interested in the small book and I explored it. I did not understand at the time the psalms and the canticles. I grew up with the Breviary in my mind until about 5 years ago, I was in a Catholic Book Store where I found a copy of the Liturgy of the Hours. I bought it immediately and started exploring it. It took several years before I learned how to use it. I was overjoyed when I found the audio materials and I played it and prayed with your group. What an ecstatic experience! Thank you so much and may God bless you — especially those people who are painstakingly devoting their talents and efforts to make this site available for those who love to pray the Liturgy of the Hours — the prayer that unite Catholics in various parts of the globe. Thank you and God bless!