Communion With Jesus and the Liturgy Of the Hours

The Christian life is about communion with Jesus. I am reminded of this truth each day at the seminary in which our lives as seminarians are scheduled around liturgical and personal prayer. This is why the Church requires us to attend Mass every Sunday and encourages us to receive communion as often as possible (at least once during the Easter Season). At Mass we offer praise and thanksgiving to God for his goodness and the blessings he has given us. We also offer petitions for our own needs and the needs of the Church Universal. Most importantly, we offer our hearts during the Eucharistic prayer, joining our own intentions and offerings to the sacrificial offering of Jesus on the Cross and receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ who gives us divine life, and healing which conform our hearts and lives to look more like his. The source and summit of the Christian life, indeed, is the Eucharist. 

However, the Church’s liturgy does not end with Mass.

However, the Church’s liturgy does not end with Mass. The memorial of the Paschal Mystery, our communion with Jesus, and our offerings of praise, thanksgiving, and petition to the Father are extended throughout the day in the Liturgy of the Hours. This prayer is offered by the Church so that we are joined to Christ in prayer at all times and to sanctify the entirety of every day “from the rising of the sun to its setting” (Psalm 113:3).

Near the end of his public ministry on earth, Jesus instructed his disciple that “You must pray at all times and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1). In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that from the Church’s beginning, the apostles took Jesus’ command to “pray always” to heart by praying at fixed times throughout the day: the apostles were praying together on Pentecost during “the third hour of the day” (Acts 2:1-15); Peter “went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour” (Acts 10:9); “Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour” (3:1); “about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (16:25). Following the example of the Apostles, the Church gradually formalized this “hourly” personal prayer of the Early Christians into liturgical prayer which is called the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office. Through the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church draws all of its members to “offer to God an unceasing sacrifice of praise” (Heb 15:15).

For those who pray the Office regularly, the Psalms begin to become part of the rhythm of life and a source of dialogue with God, both praying the psalms to the Father and also listening to how the word speaks to one’s own heart. 

The Liturgy of the Hours is made up of seven specified times of prayer (called “Hours”). The two most important hours, called the “hinge” hours, are Morning Prayer (prayed around sunrise or 6 am) and Evening Prayer (prayed around sunset or 6 pm). At the seminary, we pray both of these hours in community on most weekdays. The other hours are Office of Readings, the three Daytime Hours (Midmorning, Midday, and Midafternoon), and Night Prayer. Sanctifying specific times of the day, each Hour reflects a spiritual theme that correlates to the physical time of day. During the morning, for example, the prayers focus on resurrection and new life in Christ. During the evening, the prayers focus on thanksgiving for the day's blessings and preparation for the day ahead. For those who pray the Office regularly, the psalms begin to become part of the rhythm of life and a source of dialogue with God, both praying the Psalms to the Father and also listening to how the word speaks to one’s own heart. 

At their ordination, priests and deacons promise “to celebrate faithfully the Liturgy of the Hours”(1) for the glorification of God and sanctification of his people. While not required of the laity, the Second Vatican Council encouraged the entire Church, including the laity, to incorporate the Liturgy of the Hours into the liturgical life of parishes and individual Christians. 

The Liturgy of the Hours has been a significant part of my prayer life for several years. In the year or two before I entered seminary, I began to make Morning Prayer and Night Prayer a regular part of my prayer life. Since I did not have as much time to pray as I do now in seminary life, I found that committing to praying one or two Hours daily gave my prayer life stability. Being almost entirely scriptural, it helped me to become acquainted with Psalms and Scripture passages that I would not have otherwise prayed with or read at that time. Finally, it gave me a better sense of living a liturgical life, especially during the seasons of Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas.

If you are struggling to enter into a routine of prayer in your family life, if you would like to live more liturgically, or if you would like to pray more with Scripture, I encourage you to try incorporating one or more of the Hours into your daily prayer routine. A very simple start is to end the day with Night Prayer, which is simple to learn. While you can purchase a volume of Night Prayer or Christian Prayer (which contains Morning, Evening, and Night Prayer), there are many apps for iPhone and Android that prepare all of the prayers for you (no need to worry about ribbons or purchase an expensive book). Two very easy to use apps are the Divine Office and IBreviary apps. I encourage you to make a plan to pray one or two hours regularly by yourself or with your family. If we do not make plans for prayer, it will never seem like there is time for it. Making a commitment to pray Morning Prayer to sanctify the day as it begins or Night Prayer as a prayerful reflection on how the day went before going to bed is a great step toward prioritizing your prayer life and remaining in communion and conversation with Jesus each and every day. 

Please consider joining us at St. Leonard every fourth Saturday of the month after the 5 p.m. Mass for Evening Prayer in the Divine Mercy Chapel, beginning January 27.

(1) Ordination of Deacons – Promise of the Elect