Text
As the Prophet said: Seven times in the day I have given praise to you.1
Ut ait Propheta: Septies in die laudem dixi tibi.
We shall fulfil this sacred number of seven if at the times of Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Non, Vespers and Compline, we carry out the duties of our service.
Qui septenarius sacratus numersus a nobis sic implebitur, si Matutini, Primae, Tertiae, Sextae, Nonae, Vesperi, Completoriique tempore, nostrae servitutis officia persolvamus.
For the Prophet said of these hours: Seven times in the day I have given praise to you.
Quia de his horis dixit Propheta: Septies in die laudem dixi tibi.
And the same Prophet said of the Night Office: In the middle of the night I rose to praise you.2
Nam de Nocturnis Vigiliis idem ipse Propheta ait: Media nocte surgebam ad confitendum tibi.
Therefore, at these times let us give praise to our Creator concerning the judgments of his justice;3 that is, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline and let us rise in the night to praise him.
Ergo his temporibus referamus laudes Creatori nostro super iudicia iustitiae suae, id est, Matutinis, Prima, Tertia, Sexta, Nona, Vespera, Completorio, et nocte surgamus ad confitendum ei.
Comment
Dom Delatte, in his commentary on the Rule, reminds us that morning and evening prayer were celebrated by the early Christians and have their origins in the Jewish sacrifices at the Temple. The other day hours here – Terce, Sext and None – are named for the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day which, if you recall from earlier chapters, was divided into twelve daylight hours.
In Acts of the Apostles, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is recorded as occurring at the third hour of the day, and this occurrence is commemorated in the traditional hymn for the office of Terce - “Nunc, sancte nobis Spiritus”. See Acts chapter 2. The next chapter of Acts records Peter and John going up to the Temple to pray at the ninth hour. So these hours are ancient in origin.
Dom Delatte tells us that the office of Prime became a canonical hour in the late fourth century. He explains that Father Pargoire researched it, finding that it emerged formally at a monastery in Bethlehem:
At Bethlehem, as in other monasteries, Lauds were said almost immediately after Matins, even in winter, without waiting for dawn; and as a consequence, the brethren were allowed to lie down again until daybreak. But “the lazy abused this permission: since there was no community exercise to force them to leave their cells, instead of rising to work with hand or brain until the Hour of Terce, they formed the habit of waiting quietly in their beds for the signal to this Office. So there was a reform, and the elders decided that the custom of going to bed after the Night Office should continue, but that at sunrise, when work became possible, the community should assemble for the recitation of Prime.”
As for Compline, again according to Dom Delatte, this Office is mentioned by St Basil (330-379), who states the 90th (91st) Psalm is used, which is still the case in the Benedictine Compline today.
St Benedict refers to the Psalms which set out the requirement to pray seven times a day – the Night Office is excluded.
For monks/nuns, when they make their profession (vows), they are committing themselves to spending every day of their lives reciting the Divine Office. If they miss an Office in choir due to their duties, they have to make it up later.
For those of us who are not monks or nuns, we can take some comfort from this – at all times through the day and night, somewhere in the world, monks, nuns and religious of all kinds are offering the Divine Office.
The Catholic Church, after Vatican II, abolished the Office of Prime and cut down all the others by reducing Psalms and their recital to a four-week cycle instead of one week. This was a Bad Idea. Some monastic communities reduced the office likewise. I recently got a copy of the English Bridgettines’ unique office book but it was translated into English after Vatican II, with Prime dropped. They, and other contemplative communities which chose to reduce the Office, no longer exist. Keeping the traditional seven day Hours and one night Hour are key to preserving the monastic life: the Divine Office, the constant praise to God (Sacrificium laudis) are the whole purpose of their existence. Without that, they have no function. St Benedict knew this; the divine office is the springboard for a life of prayer. Reduce liturgical prayer and you reduce all prayer.
For those of us who are not monks or nuns, the injunction to pray seven times a day applies to us too, but we don’t have to recite the Divine Office to achieve this, though there are plenty of books and ways of doing it. Instead, we can just develop habits of regular prayer; the rosary, the angelus, the Jesus prayer, just pausing to say an Our Father or to kneel in prayer quietly before God several times a day is enough to re-orient us towards God. This is something I have been working on in recent years and while I am clearly not (yet) a saint as a result, it has been an important step for me in my life.
During Lent each year I try to build new habits and this is one of them. I haven’t achieved all the objectives on my list but more regular prayer is one I have managed, despite the unfortunate need to work for a living.
1 Psalm 118 (119): 164
2 Psalm 118 (119): 62
3 Psalm 118 (119): 164
I believe there is now a Dicastery of Bad Ideas. And not a moment too soon, I might add. This whole "office" thing sounds a bit worky, really. They'll be rolling out the new brand soon: the Divine Conversation.
I hear the DBI's behind the Pope's latest ecumenical triumph. Those C of E priestesses never expected to be outflanked by the Pope converting to Anglicanism. Well played.