Many priests today find the Liturgy of the Hours a burden and some have simply set it aside. This is not what the Church expects of priests who, when ordained deacons, made the promise to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. “Do you resolve to guard and increase the spirit of prayer proper to your way of life and, in keeping with this spirit and the circumstances of your life, to celebrate faithfully the Liturgy of the Hours, with and for the People of God and indeed for the whole world?” (Ordination of a Bishop, of Priests, and of Deacons, The Rite of Ordination of Deacons, No. 200). This promise is more than a clerical obligation. Rather, it shapes the spiritual life of the priest and, astonishingly, at the same time benefits the salvation of the “whole world.” As we anticipate a revised English translation, and examine our own fidelity to this ordination promise, a fresh look at some aspects of the Liturgy of the Hours may be helpful.

From early on we participated in Mass, grew in an understanding of the Eucharistic Mystery, and were quite familiar with its structure and order of celebration. Only with all this information and formation in place did we then take the Roman Missal into our hands as priests. The opposite was typically the case with the Liturgy of the Hours. This liturgical book was placed in our hands without much theological or liturgical formation behind it except perhaps to be told where to set the ribbons. A clear grasp of what is the Liturgy of the Hours beyond a four-volume set of books is indeed necessary!

Sacrosanctum Concilium, as it proposes the reform plan for the Divine Office, provides an enduring description: “Christ Jesus, high priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven. He joins the entire community of mankind to himself, associating it with his own singing of this canticle of divine praise. For he continues his priestly work through the agency of his Church, which is ceaselessly engaged in praising the Lord and interceding for the salvation of the whole world. She does this, not only by celebrating the Eucharist, but also in other ways, especially by praying the Divine Office” (No. 83).

This hymn of the Lord is his new song of salvation and redemption won for us on the cross and, with the Ascension, abides for all eternity at the right hand of the Father. Jesus does not sing this hymn alone but, with his resurrection and ascension, binds all who belong to him to be associated with “his priestly work,” a work that continues for all time for “the salvation of the whole world.” We understand this readily when we assemble for the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit makes present to us with the Eucharistic prayer the “holy and living sacrifice” (Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer III) of the Savior and Redeemer. The very words of Jesus himself repeated over the bread and wine by the priest each time Mass is celebrated inform us that the Eucharist is truly the here-and-now event of the “saving Passion” and “wondrous Resurrection” (Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer III).

This event that takes place with the Eucharist, the Paschal Mystery, is the very same event that takes place when praying the Liturgy of the Hours. In the celebration of the Eucharist, the priestly action of Christ occurs and unfolds, with the rites of the Church at the altar. The priestly action of Jesus in his perpetual posture of his glorified death and resurrection before his Father in heaven comes upon the altar with the epicletic dynamic of the Holy Spirit. In the Liturgy of the Hours, however, the Church is joined to this same perpetual posture of the Lord in heaven, again with the aid of the Holy Spirit, with Christ the Priest acting at the right hand of the Father (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 662).

The Paschal Mystery, the eternal action of Christ, which is sacramentally present to the Church in all the sacraments, in the Liturgy of the Hours, and as well in the observance of the liturgical year and calendar, ceaselessly unites all the members of the Church, the Body of Christ, with the glorifying offering of her head before the Father, At the same time, the liturgical celebration of the Paschal Mystery continues to accomplish our salvation and redemption as we make our way through this life into the next.

As we pray with this confidence with the celebration of the Eucharist (cf. Roman Missal, Prayer over the Offerings, Mass of the Lord’s Supper), we need the same conviction that this is true when we pray the Liturgy of the Hours. With the Hours, as an equal participation in the sacrificial offering of Jesus at the Father’s right hand, salvation and redemption is accomplished “for the whole world.” In fact, morning prayer (lauds) is offered in the mystery of the Resurrection and evening prayer (vespers) is offered in the mystery of Redemption (cf. General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours [GILH], No. 37). Thus, when priests pray the Liturgy of the Hours, they uniquely celebrate the Paschal Mystery of the Savior, which in this eternal prayer of Christ continues to bring about the salvation and redemption of all.

As the Prayer of the Church

Sacrosanctum Concilium, continues to address the Divine Office in the life of the Church: “By tradition going back to early Christian times, the Divine Office is devised so that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praises of God. Therefore, when this wonderful song of praise is rightly performed by priests and others who are deputed for this purpose by the Church’s ordinance, or by the faithful praying together with the priest in the approved form, then it is truly the voice of the bride addressed to her bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself, together with his body, addresses to the Father” (No. 84).

The tradition is clear. With the regular praying of the Liturgy of Hours throughout the course of the day, every part of the day is consecrated to the praise and glory of the Father with the Paschal Mystery of the Son. The unique duty of the priest is to pray the whole series of hours each day as he acts in a sacramental manner in the person of Christ, the Head of the Body, and so with him, intercedes for the Church. What is even more compelling is the council’s clarity in teaching that this prayer becomes on the part of the priest, as well as the lay faithful “the voice of the bride addressed to the bridegroom.” Thus the prayer that belongs to all is truly the prayer of Christ in his heavenly paschal offering as he ever associates the Church to it. This prayer of the Church united with Christ in the hours is what Christ then “addresses to the Father.” The Church is never separated from Christ, not Christ from the Church, in this prayer to the Father.

New Considerations

The structure of the Liturgy of the Hours includes a great number of elements, principally, the psalms, the canticles, other readings from sacred Scripture, a wide variety of readings from nonbiblical sources, hymns and responsories and intercessory prayers. All these elements combine in the liturgical celebration of the Hours to allow for a living relationship with Christ and his saving Mystery (cf. Catechism, No. 1101).

One of these elements above all deserves special consideration: the psalms. With the Liturgy of the Hours, when the psalms are sung or recited, they have a sacramental character. Christians do not voice the psalms as the Jewish people. Christians pray the psalms as the very prayer of Christ during his life on earth. The early Christian communities continued to pray the psalms — as we do today — as, indeed, the prayer of Christians. These texts become the way Christians are one with the prayer of Christ at the right hand of the Father, a sacramental communion with the perpetual prayer of Christ.

Renewed attention should be given to the psalms for a better understanding of them — historically, biblically and for their unique role in the Liturgy of the Hours. A great wideness is necessary when praying the psalms so as to link them beyond a particular person and circumstance, so that those “who pray the psalms in the liturgy of the hours do so not so much in their own name as in the name of the entire Body of Christ” (GILH, No. 108). In essence, with the psalms, the voice of Christ cries out to the Father — and the Father, in turn, converses with the Son. At the same time, the psalms are the voice of the whole Church in every age — from the time of the apostles and the martyrs to the ordained and baptized as they are today associated with the voice of Christ (cf. GILH, No. 109). The psalms, as the prayers of Christ, deepen the person’s union with the sentiments of the Savior’s heart for every person, sentiments of praise and mercy, of lament and sorrow, of confidence and consolation. An occasional reading of the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours about the psalms, and in fact about all the elements, may be very helpful.

The typical manner of praying the Liturgy of the Hours is with other people. Yet, most priests pray the Liturgy of the Hours alone. In this situation, the praying of the Liturgy of the Hours can lose some of its necessary dimensions as communal and liturgical prayer simply because of the circumstances. Even alone, the prayer is never private. As with the Eucharist, when celebrated apart from an assembly, the Liturgy of the Hours is always the action of Christ and the Church. The introductory verse and response, God, come to my assistance, Lord, make haste to help me (cf. Liturgy of the Hours, The Ordinary), with the use of the first-person singular, immediately indicates that even for those who pray alone this is a work shared with the single Body of Christ and with Christ himself. This introduction can serve as a key for the priest to recognize from the outset that the Liturgy of the Hours needs to take a form that is distinct from other prayers.

Above all, the Liturgy of the Hours is a celebration of the liturgy, the Paschal Mystery. To the different hours of the day the Liturgy of the Hours extends the praise and thanksgiving, the memorial of the mysteries of salvation, the petitions and the foretaste of heavenly glory present in the Eucharistic mystery (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, No. 5; GILH,No. 12). With each hour, the priest should prepare as for Mass with a focus on communion with Christ in his perpetual posture of prayer before the Father, with intentions for his intercession that he makes in union with the saving intercession of the Lord, celebrating the same mystery in the Liturgy of the Hours as with the Eucharist.

The elements within the structure of the Liturgy of the Hours deserve a respectful focus so they indeed assist the priest to pray with the Church and with Christ. The hymn is a constitutive element, never to be omitted, that heightens awareness of the time of day, the time of the liturgical year, the liturgical occasion. The importance of the psalms has already been addressed. The other biblical texts are simultaneously proclamations and occasions of reflection on the Lord’s redeeming love. The multiple occasions for intercessory prayer, especially the Lord’s Prayer and the concluding prayer, bring the priest into a clear experience of his own sacramental identity with Christ the Priest, to offer prayer and petition for the salvation of the whole world (cf. GILH, No. 17; No. 28). Observing periods of silence during individual recitation does not compromise in any way the character of the Liturgy of the Hours. Rather, this silence allows for the voice of the Holy Spirit to be heard more fully in the heart of the priest and to unite him more completely with the word of God and the voice of the Church (cf. No. 12).

“The Church commissions [priests] to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours so as to ensure at least in their persons the regular carrying out of the duty of the whole community and unceasing continuance of Christ’s prayer in the Church” (No. 28). The seriousness of the obligation to recite the full sequence of the hours each day for the priest, if it is to be fresh every day, requires a consistent engagement of the mystery of Christ that is taking place, an intentional connection with all in the Church for whom and with whom he prays, and a recognition in faith, that the voice of the priest is one with the voice of Christ praising the Father of us all.

FATHER GERALD DENNIS GILL is the rector of the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, the director of the Office for Divine Worship for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and adjunct faculty at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary.

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Consecration of the Course of the Day

The General Instruction of the Liturgy of Hours notes: “Christ told us ‘about the need to pray continually and never lose heart’ (Lk 18:1). The Church has faithfully heeded this exhortation by never ceasing in her prayer and by urging us to pray: ‘Through him (Jesus), let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise’ (Heb 13:15). The Church not only satisfies this precept by celebrating the Eucharist, but also in other different ways, especially by the Liturgy of the Hours. Compared with other liturgical actions, the particular characteristic which ancient tradition has attached to the Liturgy of the Hours is that it should consecrate the course of day and night.

Because the purpose of the Office is to sanctify the day and all human activity, the traditional sequence of the Hours has been so restored that, as far as possible, they may be genuinely related to the time of the day at which they are prayed. The modern conditions in which daily life has to be lived have also been taken into account. Consequently, ‘that the day may be truly sanctified, and that the Hours themselves may be recited with spiritual advantage, it is best that each of them be prayed at a time which most clearly corresponds with its true canonical time’” (Nos. 10-11).

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