Liturgy of the Hours

Liturgy of the Hours, also called the Divine Office, is considered the prayer of the Church. Based primarily on the psalms, prayers known to Jesus, Liturgy of the Hours consists of a daily prayer schedule followed by priests, members of religious orders, and a growing number of lay people. Priests and deacons, who are required to pray Liturgy of the Hours, traditionally have referred to it as the breviary.

While Lauds and Vespers are most frequently prayed in parishes, Vigils, Day Prayer, and Compline have their devotees. Praying Liturgy of the Hours requires discipline, but in return it offers the faithful the great reward of an enriched prayer life through deeper understanding of Scripture and an increased sense of Christian unity.

our related Catholic Bible study
The Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church provides an in-depth look at all of the psalms, using as a biblical text The Abbey Psalms and Canticles prepared by the Benedictine monks at Conception Abbey. This two-volume study consists of 57 lessons that follow the prayer cursus (schedule) used by the monks at Conception Abbey. Both Volume I and Volume II have been granted an imprimatur and can be purchased from our website shop.

We also have found the following Liturgy of the Hours resources to be especially useful.

• Divine Office.org features audio files of Liturgy of the Hours prayers that include the hymns. Although the website is somewhat lacking in visual appeal, it offers an opportunity for its visitors to experience the prayers by listening to them as they’re being sung.
• ibreviary.com is among the most well-known of the many Liturgy of the Hours websites. It offers easy access to the daily prayers and readings in a range of languages.
• Universalis.com‘s strength is that it provides a variety of technical options for accessing their Liturgy of the Hours written material, including e-books, daily e-mails, RSS feeds, and Twitter.
• This monastic prayer schedule allows you to pray Liturgy of the Hours at the same time as the Benedictine monks at Conception Abbey. These are the same monks who originally translated The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, the English translation approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for liturgical use in the U.S.