The Catholic Church has approved a large variety of ways to pray and approach God, but one way that is named the “public” prayer of the Church is the Divine Office, also called the Liturgy of the Hours.
It has its roots in the early Church and is a way to sanctify the entire day, consecrating it to God.
Voice of the Bride to her Bridegroom
The Catechism of the Catholic Church first explains how the Liturgy of the Hours is a response to St. Paul’s challenge to “pray constantly”:
The mystery of Christ, his Incarnation and Passover, which we celebrate in the Eucharist especially at the Sunday assembly, permeates and transfigures the time of each day, through the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, “the divine office.” This celebration, faithful to the apostolic exhortations to “pray constantly,” is “so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God.”
CCC 1174
Priests and religious are more well-known for praying the Liturgy of the Hours, as they are required to pray the Divine Office on a daily basis. Monks and nuns in particular dedicate their lives to praying the Liturgy of the Hours, and pause their work throughout the day to gather together to pray it.
Yet, the Liturgy of the Hours is not restricted to consecrated religious, but is open to men and women of all states of life. When lay people pray the Liturgy of the Hours, it unites the whole Church in a unified chorus of praise:
In this “public prayer of the Church,” the faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized. Celebrated in “the form approved” by the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours “is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father.
CCC 1174
The Divine Office is a beautiful way to approach God, one that the Church heartily recommends, especially among the laity.
And today we celebrate...