#THE DIVINE OFFICE APP SERIES#

You will note that the Pope also made specific reference to Lauds, Vespers and Compline - Morning, Evening and Night Prayer. Our relationship with God can only be enriched by our journeying towards Him day after day I would like to renew my call to everyone to pray the Psalms, to become accustomed to using the Liturgy of the Hours, Lauds, Vespers, and Compline.

This is not the case - and in point of fact I wouldn't recommend it for laity (unless you are home-bound or retired).Īs for this other idea that the Office is too clerical, that certainly isn't what the Church says or thinks and in 2011 Pope Benedict XVI offered his own reflection on this at a Wednesday general audience: Of course the other mistake that often influences this idea that the Divine Office is 'too long' is the misunderstanding that if one is going to pray the Divine Office one needs to pray all of the hours. On average I would estimate that a prayerful reading of the Office, one that is said neither too rapidly nor slowly in other words, will probably you see invest 10-15 minutes for each of the major hours of Lauds and Vespers for example - and approximately 10 minutes for Compline (understanding, of course, that when one is first learning something, it always takes a bit longer than it normally will otherwise). With regard to this objection let me state categorically and unequivocally that it is misplaced and a myth. By adopting this worthy practice you are allowing yourself not only to be imbued with the richness of the psalms and sacred scripture, you are also being formed liturgically, following the liturgical calendar and seasons of the Church more closely and allowing the liturgical prayer of the Church to penetrate and form your day, each and every day, and not solely on Sundays.Īt the same time, however, there can also be a reservation expressed by some who feel that the Divine Office is simply too much work, too time consuming, too 'clerical' or 'monastic' for the laity the pursue and so (the thinking goes) the laity should just stick with other devotions and not trouble themselves with the breviary. This is very encouraging for in terms of the various forms of prayer that one might undertake, the Divine Office should rank very high as a primary consideration - it, after all, forms a part of the Church's liturgical prayer and is a source of very great comfort and liturgical formation.

#THE DIVINE OFFICE APP SERIES#

Usually going hand in hand with this is a series of questions about how one can go about praying it. The subject of the Divine Office is one that I like to raise from time to time and it often brings with it a swell of interest and curiosity.

The divine office app