Why You Should Pray the Liturgy of the Hours with Us

By Timothy Duff, S.T.M., B.C.C.

Do you have trouble sticking to a prayer routine in the morning?

The answer might be easier than you think.

The book of Acts (2:42) tells us that the first Christians were devoted to common prayer, or in other words, prayer with others. A form of this daily prayer has undergone transformations and is today called the Liturgy of the Hours, or Divine Office.

Although the Liturgy of the Hours is prayed by monks, priests, deacons, and religious, many lay persons pray it as well.

The principle of the Liturgy of the Hours has always remained the same: it’s a response to the exhortation of Christ for continual prayer of the Church according to the Word of God — especially the Psalms.

My Return to the Hours

When I was a young man in my twenties, I began to pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily and continued it for years even when I was in the seminary and afterwards. When I first was married, I taught my wife how to pray it and we brought our children up praying one of the Hours (Compline, which is night prayer) with the rosary every night at bedtime.

Sadly though, like many things, this prayer (also called the Divine Office) fell by the wayside when my wife Theresa and I got sick with COVID.  My wife died in January 2021, and I said the Office of the Dead for her, and it brought me much consolation.

Today I pray the Liturgy of the Hours with others online via a Zoom connection every weekday at 8:30 am ET. It takes about 15 minutes. The prayers are displayed on the screen for everyone to read. There is also an option to join by phone.  

Click and scroll to bottom for Liturgy of Hours Zoom Link, Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am ET, 5:30 PT.

Ask to be put on our email list to be reminded of other online prayers said throughout the week, at Guildbjlabre@gmail.com.

The Second Vatican Council reiterated the duty of those who are ordained to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. It also recommended that all worshipers pray “with the clergy, with the others and alone” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, #100). The Liturgy of the Hours has also been “destined to be the prayer for all the people of God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church § 1175).

What is the Liturgy of the Hours?

The website Aleteia says,

The Liturgy of the Hours includes morning praises, or Lauds, when people dedicate their day to God, and the act of grace known as Vespers in the evening. The prayers in the middle of the day are Tierce, Sext, and Nones (sometimes combined as Midday Prayer), and Compline or Night Prayer is said before retiring for the night. … It is combined with the annual cycle of liturgies – Advent, Christmas, Sundays, Lent, Easter, the mystical celebrations of Christ’s life, and of the Virgin Mary and the saints.

Pauses and silences make up an integral part of the prayer, and highlight the resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Most of these elements vary depending on the days and seasons. 

Click and scroll to bottom for Liturgy of Hours Zoom Link, Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am ET, 5:30 PT.

Ask to be put on our email list to be reminded of other online prayers said throughout the week, at Guildbjlabre@gmail.com.

Why Practice the Liturgy of the Hours?

It is the official prayer of the whole Church, the “voice of the Bride addressing her Husband” (Vatican II). In joining in it, we pace our days on those of the Church, participate in its prayers of praise and intercession, become close to all those for whom this prayer is the office. The Liturgy of the Hours is a way in which the Holy Spirit teaches us, especially through the Psalms. In reciting them we are able to converse with God, to respond to Him using his own words, his Word.

These prayers could be some fifteen hundred years old, but they speak to us and of us. They are as modern and as real as what we could read in a newspaper. The joys, the tragedies, the life of struggle, the despair, the supplications, the intercessions and most importantly the praises and the acts of grace….

Linked to the Mass

Furthermore, the Liturgy of the Hours is linked to the Mass. The Benedictine Monastery of Christ in the Desert in New Mexico, U.S.A. says, “The Liturgy of the Hours is both a genuine preparation for Mass and a fitting continuation of the Mass.”

Here are five reasons why you should pray the Liturgy of the Hours online with us:

1. It is linked to Holy Mass.
2. It is one of the ancient prayers of the Church.
3. We respond to God using his own words (especially the Psalms).
4. When we meet with others it is an incentive to make this a habit.
5. We draw strength and encouragement in praying with others.

Nothing warms the desire of my heart than to pray with you all. I hope you join us.

Click and scroll to bottom for Liturgy of Hours Zoom Link, Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am ET, 5:30 PT.

Ask to be put on our email list to be reminded of other online prayers said throughout the week, at Guildbjlabre@gmail.com.

(Timothy Duff is a board-certified chaplain. He is the president, and one of the founders, along with the late Rev. Benedict Groeschel, of the Guild of St. Benedict Joseph Labre, which offers spiritual support for all brain disorders. The Guild’s website is www.guildbjlabre.org)