Tertullian, among others, is witness that this survival was not

    confined to the Christian communities of Palestine. The observance

    of the Hours was at first a matter of private devotion in Gentile

    communities, as it continued to be in Rome until a comparatively

    late period. But with the rise of asceticism, we find outside of

    Rome the practice of saying the Hours becoming customary in the

    public assemblies for worship, where it met and coalesced with two

    other Non-Eucharistic services, the Vigil preceding Sundays and

    great festivals, and the daily “Lucernarium”, or lamp-lighting

    service, held at night-fall. The material of these services was

    drawn from the worship of the synagogue and the structure of the

    Vigil modeled loosely after its pattern. There was psalmody, the

    reading of other parts of Scripture, and prayer. It is in the union

    of these two streams of common worship, the monastic, semi-private

    services of the Hours, and the public Vigil and its prelude, the

    Lucernarium, that we find the original form of what has long been

    known in the Church as The Divine Office. The Liturgy proper, the

    Mass, held its position of supremacy unchallenged and unrivalled.

    But contemporary writers bear witness to the fact that in the East,

    in the Fourth Century, the laity, secular and monastic, as well as

    the clergy, attended these supplemental services in great numbers.

    That there should be need of regulation was inevitable. By the time

    such regulation appeared (in the Fourth Century) the fusion of the

    secular and monastic elements of the Office had become general, and

    perhaps we may attribute the enactment of legislation on the subject

    to the cooling of the zeal of not only the secular laity, but of the

    clergy as well, in the matter of regular and systematic attendance

    at the offices. Thus we find in The Apostolic Constitutions

    directions that clergy and laity shall "make prayers early in the

    morning, and at the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hour, at eventide, and

    at cock-crow." There is an additional enactment that, if assembly

    for service cannot take place in church (on account of persecution,

    or similar grave cause), the Bishop shall assemble his flock in some

    private house; but if this is impossible, each one shall discharge

    this duty either alone, or with one or more of his brethren. (Apost.

    Const. VIII, xxxiv. Patr. Graec. I, 1135.) In the same century,

The Monastic Diurnal is an extension of the Divine Sacrifice of the Mass and draws its breath from the Mass of the day.  The Benedictine Monastic Diurnal uses the Septuagint text of the Old Testament which is also true for Old Testament Readings in the Orthodox Mass.  The Benedictine Monastic Diurnal is the official Divine Office of the Celtic Orthodox Benedictine Fathers.

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The theme of a canonical hour is that special thought or motivation to prayer that arises from the needs of that time of day: it is the hour's prayer intention. The background from the story of salvation is the mystery or event which bears upon the hour and should enter into the prayer intention while the hour is being prayed; it should be an illustration for the text of the prayer, to channel and intensify the spirit of devotion (eg., Terce—descent of the Holy Ghost).

LAUDS

Lauds is a jubilant hour, fresh as the morning dew, perhaps the most beautiful of all the hours. Its symbolism deserves attention. It is night; nature and men are asleep. In the Far East the grey of dawn appears; then the ruddy hue of morning, the harbinger of a new day, spreads across the horizon, and the world of nature begins to stir. But all this natural beauty is only a symbol and reminder of a most wonderful event in the story of salvation. It was at this beautiful hour that our Savior burst the bonds of death. Resurrection—that is the background theme of Lauds. And the two pictures together, dawn and resurrection, remind us of a third arising from slumber, the spiritual awakening of the human soul.

There is, then, a threefold resurrection: nature awakens, the Savior rises from the dead, the human soul celebrates its spiritual resurrection. Such is the background to our prayer of Lauds. It is an explicit song of praise; praise is the hour's central theme. If we can get a feeling for these three pictures intermingling in our Lauds prayer, if we can enter into the spirit of this threefold resurrection, if we can enlist the forces of nature to pray and praise and exult along with us while reciting this hour reasonably early in the morning, perhaps even in the open air, then we are certain to be struck by the full impact of its meaning.  Lauds is, actually, one of the most striking examples of what a proper observance of the characteristic thought of an hour and the background theme from the story of salvation can do for personal devotion. The psalms at Lauds are all specially chosen hymns of praise.

The climax of Lauds is the Gospel song, the “Benedictus”. It is a hymn in praise of man's redemption, a greeting to the dawning day of salvation which is destined to be one more step toward its completion.  It is the Church who prays the Benedictus taking Zachary's place.  Every day is a new coming of the Redeemer, and the Church greets her Savior as the "Day-Spring from on high".  Sunday and feast-day Lauds are classically beautiful. First the praises of awakening nature before God the King upon his throne, the earth, decked with all the wonders of creation, Victor over the primeval chaos.

PRIME

Prime is the Church's second Morning Prayer, quite different in tone from Lauds. Lauds is the ideal Morning Prayer, a "resurrection song" of all creation and of the Church. Prime is the morning prayer of a sinful human, a subjective prayer. The basic theme of Prime is dedication of and preparation for the day's labors and conflicts. This theme runs through the whole hour.  There is no special reference to any chapter in the story of salvation.  Thus, the theme of the canonical hour, preparing for the day, assumes the center of attention, and indeed to such an extent that even on feast days, themes proper to the feast are generally suppressed at Prime. The hymn at Prime enlists all our efforts and abilities in the service of the Lord and arms us against imminent dangers—perfectly in harmony with Prime's basic theme.

TERCE

9 o'clock. The Church wants us to pause briefly during our day's activity and raise our hearts to God; that is the purpose underlying the little hours. They are a chance to catch our breath, an oasis in our desert wanderings. It is important that we do not pray them all at once, but whenever possible we should pray them at the corresponding hour of the day as a renewed consecration of the day's work. The little hours are short, because the day is for work.  The story of salvation has a role to play in Terce: it was the third hour (9:00) when the Holy Ghost came down upon the young Christian community on Pentecost Sunday (Pentecost Terce begins with the hymn Veni Creator). Quite appropriately, the Church recalls this mystery in the hour of Terce: Terce is thus the "first Confirmation", a strengthening for the conflicts of the day.  The hour's theme is invocation of the Holy Ghost. The hymns proper to the little hours are a further development of the theme proper to each, and to the corresponding time of day.

SEXT

12:00 noon. Theme of the hour: The day's conflict is at its climax, the heat of passion is at its strongest, the powers of hell have greater influence over man, our lower nature seems to have gained mastery. Theme from the story of salvation: the Savior is hanging on the Cross (12:00 to 3:00); hell is bringing all its forces to bear against him. This scene from Good Friday is the background for Sext; foreground is the battle against sin in us and in the Church. "Lead us not into temptation" is the message of this hour.

NONE

3:00 to 6:00. This day of salvation is slowly beginning its decline. Our thoughts are taken up with the end of life. Looking to my future I ask: will I persevere? Perseverance is the hour's theme. There is no theme from the story of salvation. At the most there is eschatological shading—the last things.

VESPERS

Vespers, or Evensong, is the Church's evening prayer. It is very similar to Lauds, both in construction and in basic theme. The Church looks back on the day of salvation just passed with all its redeeming graces—and is fervently grateful. Vespers is a thanksgiving prayer. Thanksgiving is the principal theme: the “Magnificat” is the climax, the great thanksgiving song of the Church. The canonical-hour theme is this: thanks be to God for the day just passed, both in the soul and in the Church, thanks for all his saving graces.  There is also a theme from the story of salvation to be found in Vespers—the Last Supper. At the very same time that Vespers is prayed, Christ was seated with his apostles in the upper room. This gives Vespers a special connection with the holy Eucharist, and as a matter of fact, a great number of the Vesper psalms are Eucharistic songs or at least can easily be referred to the Eucharist.

COMPLINE

Compline is the Church's second evening prayer, and as opposed to Vespers, it is a subjective and individual prayer for the sinful soul who wants to make her peace with God. The hour is a masterpiece of construction, the work of St. Benedict; we might call it the ideal night prayer. Particularly beautiful is the symbolism of Compline. The hour begins uniquely without introduction, and at once halts for an examination of conscience and an act of contrition. 

Please pray for me, a repentant sinner, worker in the Vineyard of Christ and an Unworthy Priest,

Bishop Brian Kennedy, O.S.B. amdg@bex.net