Liturgy of the Hours

Praying the Liturgy of the Hours

To Sing Praise Wisely

In his Chapter on “The Discipline of Psalmody” (RB 19), St. Benedict writes that

“We believe that the divine presence is everywhere… [and] beyond the least doubt we should believe this to be especially true when we celebrate the divine office. We must always remember, therefore, what the Prophet says: Serve the Lord with fear (Ps 2:11), and again, Sing praise wisely (Ps 46:8), and, In the presence of the angels I will sing to you (Ps 137:1)... let us stand to sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices.”

Whether you are praying the Liturgy of the Hours (also called the Divine Office) with your spouse, your whole family, with a roommate, or by yourself, St. Benedict wants you to know that you are not alone. There is no such thing as a private recitation of the divine office. This is a time to learn to live in the communion of saints. We are in communion with those people we can see and those we do not. This is possible because of Christ, because He took us into His life at our baptism. When we pray, we pray as the whole church – we, the church on earth, together with the church in purgatory, and the church in heaven, the angels and saints, in Christ our head, praising the divine presence of God who is always before us.

We do not speak these words like we would just any words. With these words we enter into dialogue with God. Here are some ways we can acknowledge this:

• Prepare a space to orient worship and

prayer. St. Benedict writes that “the oratory [the place to pray] ought to be what it is called, and nothing else is to be done or stored there” (RB 52:1). Preparing your own prayer table to face while you pray can be helpful in establishing a place of prayer. You can place a cloth on it of the appropriate liturgical color, a crucifix or simple cross in a prominent place, and two candles on either side. If you have an image or icon of Our Lady, place it there as well.

• Speak the words slowly and think about what the words mean.

• Pray in Choirs. If more than one person is present we embody this divine dialogue by taking turns praying the stanzas out loud. One group, “Choir 1”, prays the first stanza of each psalm. The other, “Choir 2”, responds with the second stanza, and they continue to alternate.

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• Pray in unison. Listen to each other and pray so that no single voice dominates.

When even our voices and breath move together in this way, it is a concrete sign of the one body of Christ united in the

Holy Spirit (Spiritus means “breath” or

“spirit”).

• Pray with your whole body. Whether we stand or sit we do it with energy and attention.

• Sing. We suggest singing recto tono, on a single pitch.

• Bow at the doxology (Glory be to the

Father…) because we are in the presence of the glory of God the Father to whom we speak, the Son whose word resonates in us, and Spirit who moves us as one.

• For a detailed introduction on the hours, parts, and practice of this prayer, please see this article in Kansas Monks.

• For a video explanation of the above suggestions and demonstration see our video introduction to praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

• There are many useful websites and apps that provide the Liturgy of the Hours texts for the day such as: • Univeralis • iBreviary • Laudate (Apple/Android)

That being said, it is often difficult to pray with screens – they easily distract our attention and tire our eyes. It is easier to enter into prayer with a book. There are two books/ sets typically used to pray in English. There is also an abundance of guides and tutorials on the internet.

• The Shorter Book of Christian Prayer contains Morning Prayer (Lauds),

Evening Prayer (Vespers), and Night

Prayer (Compline). This is a good place to begin. • The Liturgy of the Hours Four Volume

Set includes the Office of Readings (Vigils), Midday Prayer, and much more, including all the seasonal variations.