Liturgy of The Hours

[D0RK4JP2]

Gday,

Interested to see what PMpeeps collective status is on praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

[PedroX]

I pray it daily. As a seminarian I'm not yet bound by canon law, but its good practice! It has truly deepened my prayer life in ways that have surprised and delighted me. I recommend it for everybody. Don't forget about the one-volume "Christian Prayer" which might be more accessible for some.

peace...

[Paphnutius]

Christian Prayer is still the Divine Office isn't it? Anyway the seminarians at Conception pray Lauds and Vespers everyday except for the weekend when you are on your own to do it. I love praying it with the monks though, it sounds so much better sung or chanted than recited.

[Catholictothecore]

I will do this when I can no matter what state of life I am.

[FutureSoror]

I'm finding it hard to fit it in... I go in spurts. I love it when I do it though!

[MilesChristi]

The Divine Office rocks. I've been praying it for about a year now, and it has added much greater depth to my prayer life. The hours spaced throughout the day and night remind me that Jesus should be the center of our lives, and we must pray constantly.

I feel that there is great power in praying the Scriptures. The psalms, which form the bulk of the Divine Office, span the full range of human emotion from bitter anguish and sadness to breathless joy and soaring ecstacies. These inspired words have risen to God in prayer over thousands of years. Jesus, during His life among us on earth, prayed the psalms.

The Divine Office is the official prayer of the Church. When you pray it, your voice is joined with millions around the world in a song of worship to the celestial Majesty. Even during individual recitation, you are never [i]really[/i] praying alone.

If you don't own a breviary and you want to start this awesome prayer, there are several websites you can check out which post everything you need to say the Office for the day. Just type "Liturgy of the Hours" into Google, and you'll find it.

[Piccoli Fiori JMJ]

Whenever I visit the Monasteries, I get to pray along with the Sisters! I love it to bits! I don't have my own breviary and its difficult to learn how to follow along after only doing it for so many days, but I will catch on soon enough!

[Guest ambrose]

I use the Glenstal Book of Prayer. It's a Divine Office for lay people, written by the Glenstal monks in Ireland. It has all the hours and readings, and is very user friendly

[Guest Eremite]

I was kind of intimidated when I first started praying it. Fortunately, St. Joseph's publishes a small booklet that gives you all the exact pages for each day of the year. But it's very easy once you get the hang of it. I don't even use the booklet anymore.

[Paphnutius]

Tell me about it. Some of thos feast days or solemnitites have you flippin to three different places in the book.

[catholicflower]

I love the Liturgy of the Hours. I do morning,evening and the office of readings (my absolute fav.)

[Catholictothecore]

I use the Shorter Christian Prayer.

[MilesChristi]

[quote]I do morning,evening and the office of readings (my absolute fav.) [/quote]

Unfortunately, the Office of Readings is the one I miss most often. I haven't really been able to find a regular time to fit it in with the careful attention the readings deserve.

My favorite Office is Compline. I love how the themes of trust, human frailty, and divine protection flow through it. As 21st century Catholics, I think it's easy to miss the great depth of trust in this beautiful, short Office. For centuries Catholics praying this Office had no electricity. Darkness was a powerful, oppressive, and intimidating presence. There was no light switch to bring back the warm, protective light in an instant such as we have. They had to rely entirely on God to assauge their fears and protect them from the unknown dangers of the night. I try to tap into this mentality a bit by praying Compline with just one little light burning. At the "May the all-powerful Lord..." I extinguish the light and sing the Marian Antiphon in darkness.

[Extra ecclesiam nulla salus]

I've been researching it, i don't know exactly what it is. Can someone explain it to me?

[catholicflower]

It is considered the official prayer of the Church. It is a four week cycle of prayers, mainly psalms, but also Old and New Testament readings. There are 7 different 'hours' or prayer sections per day: morning, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, evening, night, and office of readings. Priests, deacons, and religious are all required to pray at least some of the hours (I believe 4, but I could be wrong) everyday. There are several web sites that you can use so that you can look at it more closely and learn to pray it. A good one that I have used in the past is [url="http://www.liturgyhours.org/"]website[/url]

Edited May 22, 2005 by catholicflower

[Extra ecclesiam nulla salus]

thanks.

[Totus Tuus]

Yes I pray it quite frequently. Being out of town and without my breviary for the last two weeks, I am just now getting back into the habit.

[karin]

I want to start praying it . I am not quite sure how to do it. my mommy has this book called the divine office for dummys to teahc you how to do so I might read that. I knwo I will learn how to use it when I go visit the Monastery for 3 months

[Piccoli Fiori JMJ]

[quote name='karin' date='Jun 3 2005, 07:51 AM'] I want to start praying it . I am not quite sure how to do it. my mommy has this book called the divine office for dummys to teahc you how to do so I might read that. I knwo I will learn how to use it when I go visit the Monastery for 3 months [/quote]
That sounds like a helpful book! I'm sure it will help lots! I'd like to know if its helpful if you ever get a chance to read any of it!

[Totus Tuus]

My little brother was playing with my briviary this morning and pulled out the bookmarks. Would someone mind telling me what week we're in, as I hadn't been paying attention? Thanks.