Christians are called to “pray at all times” (Luke 18:1), to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), and “seven times to a day do I praise You” (Psalm 118: 164). The Desert Fathers and Mothers attempted to fulfil the scriptures by praying all 150 Psalms every day – from memory no less! They prayed the psalms from the moment they arose until they went to sleep. They prayed while preparing meals, doing their daily work and when they traveled. As more and more desert Christians began to stay in community, it became important for them to have some system of praying the psalms together. Each community developed their own method of praying the psalms, usually to be prayed over the week, which we now know as the Liturgy of the Hours.
There are many reasons for this division of psalms over several hours, but it “… is not to divide up the day into certain periods of time which, when added together, will total the amount of time that should be consecrated to prayer. There can be no doubt that we have to consecrate set times to prayer, since it is not granted us to pray always (Luke 18:1) as we ought. This is why we pray at set times.”
There developed two principle methods of dividing up the psalms in the Western Church; the cathedral (Roman) and the monastic (Benedictine). St. Benedict refers to the praying of the psalms at appointed times as the Work of God (RB 43:3). So important is the Work of God that St. Benedict admonishes the monks “Indeed, nothing is to be preferred to the Work of God” (RB 43:3).
St. Benedict followed a traditional model of the hours for praying the psalms: Vigils (in anticipation of Sunday and major solemnities); Nocturnes or Matins (Predawn); Lauds (Dawn); Prime (before Terce); Terce (9:00); Sext (Noon); None (3:00 PM); Vespers (sunset); and Compline (before sleep). The Second Vatican Council ordered the revision of the Liturgy of the Hours so that the cycle of psalms would cover four weeks instead of one. It was also the intent of the Council Fathers that the Hours be “… arranged in such a way that not only clergy but also religious and indeed laity may participate in it, since it is the prayer of the whole people of God.”
The Hours were simplified. The hours of Prime, Terce, Sext, and None were merged to a single Daytime prayer. Lauds and Vespers remain as the two most important offices since we open and close the day in praise of God. Matins became the Office of Readings and Compline remained the same. So the structure was simplified with primary emphasis on Morning (Lauds) and Evening Prayer (Vespers).
The Benedictine Confederation also revised the manner the Hours were prayed in 1977. While there is a wide variety of different schemas for the praying of the psalms within the monasteries, they mostly follow the new revised guidelines. At Belmont, the monks come together for the three main community prayers of Lauds, Midday and Vespers. (More next month).
George K. Cobb, OlbSB
