Sanctifying the Hours

     Some of you have heard of the Liturgy of the Hours (also known as the “Divine Office” or the “Breviary”), and I know there are even a few in our parish who regularly pray the Hours. For those unfamiliar: the Liturgy of the Hours is a collection of prayers said at different times throughout the day, mostly taken from the Psalms and elsewhere in Scripture. 
     Praying the Psalms in some form is an ancient practice, dating back to the time of Solomon’s Temple in ancient Israel. The Church has adopted this practice and made it her own. In its current form, revised shortly after Vatican II, it is intended for use not only by priests and religious, but by the whole Christian people. Some folks pray the Hours using a book, which takes some practice to navigate; others find it simpler to use one of the free apps available. (Note: the Laudate app uses the UK translation, so I would recommend iBreviary, at least for communal prayer.) If you’re thinking of investing in a hard copy, you’ll probably want to wait until the new edition is published next year. 
     I first started praying the Liturgy of the Hours when I entered seminary. The whole community prayed Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer (the two “hinge” or main hours) together every day. At first, I didn’t like getting up early to go to chapel and recite the Psalms in this formulaic way, but before long I realized that it was teaching me how to pray. Because after all, the Psalms are prayers, in which we see the drama of the interior life unfold in dialogue with the Lord. 
     For a few days this week, June 2nd through the 4th, we’ll be praying the Morning Prayer portion of the Liturgy of the Hours instead of our regularly scheduled 8am Mass. The reason for this is that Fr. Francis and I will be away at the Priest Convocation during that time, along with almost all of the priests in the whole Diocese, so unfortunately there won’t be a priest available to offer Mass here. I’ve asked Jim Treadway to lead the celebration of Morning Prayer at 8am on those days, just as he did last time we had Convocation two years ago. We’ll have booklets for you, and plenty of instructions, so don’t worry if you’re new to the Liturgy of the Hours. All are welcome! Thanks to Jim for stepping into this role again, and don’t worry, we’ll be back Friday.