The Liturgy of the Hours
The Liturgy of the Hours, also called the Divine Office, is the official prayer of the Church: psalms, canticles, readings from Scripture and prayers spread through the hours of the day, so that the whole day becomes prayer. Priests, religious and many lay people pray it every day around the world, with the same texts.
Its official translations are copyrighted, so we don’t reproduce the texts here: we explain how it works and where to pray it.
The hours of the day
Office of Readings
At any hour of the day
Psalms and two longer readings: one from Scripture and one from a Father of the Church or a saint.
Morning Prayer (Lauds)
At the start of the day
With Evening Prayer, one of the two main hours. It praises God for the Resurrection, which happened at dawn, and offers him the day ahead.
Daytime Prayer
Mid-morning, midday or mid-afternoon (Terce, Sext or None)
A short hour in the middle of the work day. Anyone not bound to all three may pray just one.
Evening Prayer (Vespers)
As evening falls
The other main hour: it gives thanks for the day and remembers the redemption Christ won for us.
Night Prayer (Compline)
Before sleep
The last of the day: a short examination of conscience, psalms of trust and the Canticle of Simeon. Its psalms repeat every week.
How Morning and Evening Prayer are built
- The opening verse, or the Invitatory if it is the first prayer of the day
- A hymn
- Two psalms and a canticle, each with its antiphon
- A short reading from Scripture and a responsory
- The Gospel canticle: the Benedictus at Morning Prayer, the Magnificat at Evening Prayer
- The intercessions
- The Our Father
- The concluding prayer of the day
The psalter and the liturgical day
The psalms are spread over a four-week cycle, the psalter. On top of it come the texts proper to the liturgical season (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter) and to the saints’ feasts. That’s why every day is different.
How to start
Start with one hour
Morning Prayer when you wake, or Night Prayer before sleep. Night Prayer is the shortest, and since its psalms repeat every week, you soon know it.
Use the day’s Office already laid out
The texts change every day with the week of the psalter, the liturgical season and the saint of the day. Sites and apps such as iBreviary (ibreviary.com) lay them out for you.
Or get the book
The full Liturgy of the Hours comes in four volumes; there are also one-volume editions with Morning, Evening and Night Prayer, such as Christian Prayer. The ribbons mark each part.
Pray it with others when you can
Many parishes and monasteries pray Morning or Evening Prayer together. In a group, the verses of the psalms alternate between two sides.
Before sleep, you can also pray the traditional Catholic night prayers.
Who prays it?
Priests and deacons promise to pray it every day, and many religious communities pray it together. The Church invites lay people to pray it too, alone or as a family, above all Morning and Evening Prayer.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1174-1178
To follow the seasons and feasts of the year, Rosal has the liturgical calendar, with its dates and colors.