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PRINT THIS WEEK'S GUIDE! |
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Despite its antiquity and universal use in the Catholic Church, few Catholic families know anything about this fundamental devotion and even fewer know how to use it. Many today think of "quiet time" as a time for Bible or devotional reading, but reading without prayer...is just reading. The Church has supplied us with a treasury of daily devotional readings framed around a core of praise and intercession that makes our "quiet time" worshipful and sanctifying--not academic.
To bring the Liturgy of the Hours within the reach of all families and laymen, the Classical Liberal Arts Academy publishes a weekly guide to prayer. Our guide provides a detailed script for every hour of prayer, allowing you to focus on reading, reflecting and praying, rather than choosing reading or finding prayers. Moreover, our guide prints out easily once per week and sits inside your prayer book. There's no need to awkwardly read prayers from a computer or iPhone, when you can enjoy using your own breviary.
Subscribe today and begin receiving our free printable guide every Saturday morning by e-mail.
"The Liturgy of the Hours is intended to become the prayer of the whole People of God...The laity are encouraged to recite the Divine Office, either with the priests, among themselves or individually."
Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1175
PRAYING THE PSALMS
Mr. Michael has composed a helpful article to help you understand how the Psalter is arranged, so that you can pray the psalms with greater attention and devotion. Click here to read the article: Praying the Psalms.
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PRACTICAL TIPS
Location: If you are serious about praying the Liturgy of the Hours, you need to set aside a place for prayer, preferably a room that can be appropriately decorated and kept quiet. This doesn't need to be fancy at all--just sacred space where peace enough can be found for prayer and reflection.
What You Need: To pray the Liturgy of the Hours, you will need a copy of either Christian Prayer or the Liturgy of the Hours. For more information, see "Buying a Breviary" below.
Follow the Leader: Someone needs to lead the recitation of the office. The leader will open and close the office, read all prayers and the Scripture readings, begin the antiphons and announce the page numbers.
Pray the Angelus: It's a good practice the begin Morning, Midday and Evening Prayer with the Angelus--which you can learn here.
Opening Hymn: Each hour of prayer opens with a hymn. The CLAA is happy to provide recordings of hymns for you to listen to, learn and enjoy.
Reading the Psalms: The Psalms are arranged according to a 4-week schedule. To understand this schedule better, read Mr. Michael's article, Praying the Psalms. The psalms may be read aloud or chanted.
Praying Personal Intentions: Near the end of Morning and Evening Prayer, just before praying the Lord's Prayer at the end of the office, is the time for offering person intentions:
Individual: "For [such and such], let us pray to the Lord."
Group: "Lord, hear our prayer."
Then, continue with he Lord's Prayer and close. For more detailed help praying the Liturgy of the Hours, simply contact us.
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THE HOURS OF PRAYER
 You may know that the ancient Jews prayed daily at the 3rd, 6th and 9th hours and again in the morning and at night on sabbaths and holy days. The first Christians were Jews who continued (and thereby recommend to us) this "liturgy" of hourly prayer. We can read in Scripture of the Apostles, for example, praying in this way:
"And on the next day, whilst they were going on their journey, Peter went up to the higher parts of the house to pray, about the sixth hour."
"Now Peter and John went up into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer."
The normal routine of the workday led to a natural schedule of morning and evening prayer, and Christians have always gathered at these times to read Scripture, bless God, offer intercessions and discuss or lecture on the faith. We see this in apostolic times:
"And they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers."
As the monastic tradition developed in accord with apostolic teaching on the consecrated life, holy men gathered for additional hours of prayer, morning and evening, which centered about the Psalms. As these were holy men and not working men, they met not for teaching, but for worship and prayer.
Thus, a number of regular hours of prayer developed as an integral part of Christian devotional life that were participated in to varying degrees by different members of the Christian society. Later, when St. Benedict organized and codified the monastic life for his followers, he established eight regular hours for daily prayer that basically create a cycle of prayers every three hours: (1) Matins at midnight, (2) Lauds before dawn, (3) Prime at sunrise, (4) Terce at midmorning, (5) Sext at midday, (6) None at midafternoon, (7) Vespers at sunset and (8) Compline before bed. This, for many centuries was the basic scheme of "Opus Dei" (God's Work).
While the monastics enjoyed this rich and regular life of "prayer without ceasing", the laymen were taught many simple popular devotions by the saints. The most popular of these is, of course, the Holy Rosary. However, there were many other popular devotions, such as the praying of "Paternosters" which were strings of beads similar to a rosary but consisted simply of reciting the Lord's Prayer a set number of times at different times of the day. Over the centuries, these multiplied and multiplied.
At the Second Vatican Council, the Church reformed the Divine Office and established five basic hours for prayer, reading and reflection. The Liturgy of the Hours was established to provide all Christians with a relatively convenient routine for daily prayers. The five hours are: (1) Morning Prayer, (2) Daytime Prayer, (3) Evening Prayer, (4) Night Prayer and (5) Office of Readings. All Christians, with some sacrifice and self-discipline, can surely pray Morning, Evening and Night Prayer regularly. Daytime prayer may be prayed at either (a) Midmorning, (b) Midday or (c) Midafternoon. The Office of Readings may be prayed anytime it may be fit in our day. This added flexibility brings the divine office into the reach of all Christian peoples and it is the goal of the Church that this become our common prayer.
THE HYMNS OF THE LOTH
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Many individuals quickly realize that they don't know the tunes to the hymns used throughout daily prayer. Few Catholics are familiar with the history of Christian hymnody and the LOTH makes use of hymns from both Catholic and Protestant traditions. We have to end this sad situation and make traditional hymnody our daily music. We can help you do this.
 Jared Haselbarth (left) of the CLAA works to provide traditional hymn recordings to help individuals and families learn the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours. These recordings are sung by Mr. Haselbarth and accompanied by a beautifully played chapel organ.
If you make use of these recordings, we ask that you purchase and download your own copies from the CLAA Bookstore. Your financial contribution is just and allows us to continue making these resources and more like them available for other Catholics to enjoy.
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BUYING A BREVIARY
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 To pray the Liturgy of the Hours, you will need your own breviary (BREE-vee-er-ry), or prayer book. When you invest in a breviary, you will have two basic options: the one volume abridged version, called "Christian Prayer", and the full four volume "Liturgy of the Hours" set.
The ultimate difference between the two is in the Office of Readings. If you desire to pray/read the full Office of Readings, you will need the 4 volume set. The Office of Readings includes a complete year's worth of daily readings from Scripture and the Church Fathers that correspond to the Church calendar. Those who use the 1 volume normally don't pray the Office of Readings and therefore don't need them.
However, if you intend only to pray Morning and Evening Prayer or maybe add Midday and/or Night Prayer, you will only need the one volume version. This edition is so easy to use that our 6 year-old son managed it by himself during our daily prayers.
Most people end up buying Saints' biographies and Bibles anyway, but tend to have a hard time bringing them all together into a profitable routine of personal devotional reading. Instead of that, it may be best to bet the four volume set and make the Office of Readings your primary source for daily readings on the saints and in the Scriptures. You can always read more if you find the selections leave you desiring more, but we tend to "bite off more than we can chew" when it comes to starting devotions. This is why the Office of Readings is so helpful.
Yes, you could buy the LOTH from Amazon and save yourself a few bucks, but you'd be supporting a company that will sell anything. Why do that? You can order your prayer book(s) from the CLAA and support an organization doing good work around the world.
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QUESTIONS?
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I know that, as you get started praying the Liturgy of the Hours, or even thinking about it, it can seem overwhelming. As a father of nine young children, responsible for the management of two rapidly-growing businesses, I've probably experienced every obstacle you ever will in this noble endeavor. The Liturgy of the Hours radically challenges us to prioritize our lives and make better use of our time. We must always choose, "This or prayer?". It is not easy by any means, but it is possible, especially with humility and patience. Your interest in it is a virtuous beginning that surely was stirred in you by the Lord and he does not stir us up to desire holy things in vain, but to do them. He is, as St. Paul says, the one who causes us both to will and to do.
With a little bit of explaining and experience, you will find that the Church has not laid any burden upon our backs, or set an ideal before us to tantalize and frustrate us, but has given us the greatest of gifts to sanctify our lives while we live and work in the world as responsible laymen. We are happy to help you with the nitty-gritty practical issues that families and individuals must deal with in making the daily office their own. This is a priority of ours in the work of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy.
If there's anything we can help you to figure out, just send us an e-mail at: mail@classicalliberalarts.com. We'll help.
God bless,
William Michael
CLAA Director
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