Liturgy of the Hours 
Articles specific to the Liturgy of the Hours
Psalm 139(138): “The wonder of my being”
1. At this General Audience on Wednesday of the Octave of Christmas, the liturgical Feast of the Holy Innocents, let us resume our meditation on Psalm 139[138], proposed in the Liturgy of Vespers in two distinct stages. After contemplating in the first part (cf. vv. 1-12) the omniscient and omnipotent God, the Lord of being… Read More ›
Psalm 139(138): “O where can I go?”
1. The Liturgy of Vespers – on whose Psalms and Canticles we are meditating – offers us in two separate phases the reading of a sapiential hymn of clear beauty and strong emotional impact: Psalm 139[138]. Today, we have before us the first part of the composition (cf. vv. 1-12), that is, the first two strophes… Read More ›
A canticle a day
Let the ancient words of Mary, Zechariah, or Simeon leave their mark on your heart. One of the most valuable experiences from my boarding school days—and one that has remained with me—is the habit of formal prayer. I remember praying the Nunc Dimittis at night prayer in the quiet of my high school chapel: “Now… Read More ›
5 Reasons to Pray the Divine Office Daily
If I were to ask someone, “what is the public prayer of the Church,” I would typically get the answer of the Rosary. While the Rosary is a great devotion, the Church names a different prayer the “public prayer of the church:” “The divine office, because it is the public prayer of the Church, is… Read More ›
The “O” Antiphons
The Roman Church has been singing the “O” Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as… Read More ›
Psalm 51(50): Have mercy on me, O God!
1. For the fourth time during our reflections on the Liturgy of Lauds, we hear proclaimed Psalm 51[50], the famous Miserere. Indeed, it is presented anew to us on the Friday of every week, so that it may become an oasis of meditation in which we can discover the evil that lurks in the conscience and beg the Lord… Read More ›
Psalms 141(140) and 142(141)
With this evening liturgy, we begin the itinerary of a new liturgical year, entering into the first of its seasons: Advent. In the biblical reading that we have just heard, taken from the First Letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul uses precisely this word: “coming”, which in Greek is parusia andadventus in Latin (1 Thes 5: 23). According… Read More ›
Revised Benedictine Daily Prayer
The second edition of Benedictine Daily Prayer is scheduled for release November 2015. Liturgical Press provides the following description: “Benedictine Daily Prayer provides an everyday edition of the Divine Office for people who desire to pray with the church in a simple manner. Based on fifteen hundred years of liturgical prayer within the Benedictine monastic tradition,… Read More ›
Psalm 142(141): “I cry with my voice to the Lord!”
On the evening of 3 October 1226, St Francis of Assisi lay dying: his last prayer was, precisely, the recitation of Psalm 142[141] that we have just heard. St Bonaventure recalls that Francis “burst out with the exclamation of the Psalm: “I cry with my voice to the Lord, with my voice I make supplication to… Read More ›
Psalm 51(50): Where sin abounded, grace was more abundant!
1. Every week, in the Liturgy of Lauds for Friday, we pray Psalm 50, the Miserere, the pentitential Psalm, that is so much beloved, sung and meditated upon. It is a hymn raised to the merciful God by the repentant sinner. We have already had the chance in a previous catechesis to give a general overview of this great… Read More ›