How to Pray the Liturgy of the Hours

In the Roman Catholic Church priests are

required by canon law to pray the entire
Liturgy of the Hours each day while deacons
are required to pray the morning and evening
hours. The practice among religious
communities varies according to
their rules and constitutions. The Second
Vatican Council also exhorted the Christian
laity to take up the practice, and as a result,
many lay people have begun reciting portions
of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Current Roman Catholic usage focuses on three
major hours and from two to four minor hours:
The Officium lectionis or Office of Readings (formerly Matins ), major hour

Lauds or Morning prayer, major hour

Daytime prayer, which can be one or all of:

* Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer

* Sext or Midday Prayer
* Non or Mid-Afternoon Prayer

Vespers or Evening Prayer, major hour

Compline or Night Prayer

All hours, including the minor hours start with

the verse Ps 69/70 v.2 (whereas as did all
offices before the Council except Matins and
Compline) “God come to my assistance, Lord
make haste to help me”, followed by the
doxology. The verse is omitted if the hour
begins with the Invitatory (Lauds or Office of
Reading). The Invitatory is the introduction to
the first hour said on the current day, whether
it be the Office of Readings or Morning Prayer.
The opening is followed by a hymn. The hymn
is followed by psalmody. The psalmody is
followed by a scripture reading. The reading is
called a chapter ( capitula ) if it is short, or a lesson
( lectio ) if it is long. The reading is followed by a
versicle. The hour is closed by an oration
followed by a concluding versicle. Other
components are included depending on the
exact type of hour being celebrated.
In each office, the psalms and canticle are
framed by antiphons, and each concludes with
the traditional Catholic doxology.
Major hours

The major hours consist of the Office of

Readings, Morning (or Lauds) and Evening
Prayer (or Vespers).
The Office of Readings consists of:
opening versicle or invitatory

a hymn

one or two long psalms divided into three parts

a long passage from scripture, usually arranged so that in any one week, all the readings come
from the same text
a long hagiographical passage, such as an account of a saint’s martyrdom, or a theological t reatise
commenting on some aspect of the scriptural reading, or a passage from the documents of
the Second Vatican Council

on nights preceding Sundays and feast days, the office may be expanded to a vigil by inserting
three Old Testament canticles and a re ading from the gospels

the hymn Te Deum (on Sundays, solemnities, and feasts, except in Lent)

the concluding prayer

a short concluding verse (especially when prayed in groups)

The character of Morning Prayer is that of

praise; of Evening Prayer, that of thanksgiving.
Both follow a similar format:
opening versicle or (for morning prayer) the invitatory

a hymn, composed by the Church

two psalms, or parts of psalms with a scriptural canticle. At Morning Prayer, this consists of
a psalm of praise, a canticle fr om the Old Testament, follo wed by another psalm. At Evening
Prayer this consists of two psalms, or one psalm divided into two parts, and a
scriptural canticle taken from the New Testament.

a short passage from scripture

a responsory, typically a verse of s cripture, but sometimes liturgical poetry

a canticle taken from the Gospel of Luke: the Canticle of Zechariah (Benedictus) for morning
prayer, and the Canticle of Mary ( Magnificat) for evening prayer

intercessions, composed by the Church

the Lord’s Prayer

the concluding prayer, composed by the Church

a blessing given by the priest or deacon leading Morning or Evening Prayer, or in the absence of
clergy and in individual recitation, a short concluding versicle.

Usage
An Invitatory precedes the canonical hours of
the day beginning with the versicle “Lord, open
my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your
praise” (Ps 50/51 v.17), and continuing with an
antiphon and the Invitatory Psalm, usually
Psalm 94/95 .
All psalms and canticles are accompanied by
antiphons.
Unless the Invitatory is used, each Hour begins
with the versicle “God, come to my assistance.
Lord, make haste to help me” (Ps 69/70 v.2),
followed by a hymn. Each Hour concludes with
a prayer followed by a short versicle and
response.
Matins or the Office of Readings is the longest
hour. Before Pope St. Pius X’s reform, it
involved the recitation of 18 psalms on
Sundays and 12 on ferial days. Pope Pius X
reduced this to 9 psalms or portions of psalms,
still arranged in three “nocturns”, each set of
three psalms followed by three short readings,
usually three consecutive sections from the
same text. Pope Paul VI’s reform reduced the
number of psalms or portions of psalms to
three, and the readings to two, but lengthened
these. On feast days the Te Deum is sung or
recited before the concluding prayer.
After St. Pius X’s reform, Lauds was reduced to
four psalms or portions of psalms and an Old
Testament canticle, putting an end to the
custom of adding the last three psalms of the
Psalter (148-150) at the end of Lauds every
day. The number of psalms or portions of
psalms is now reduced to two, together with
one Old Testament canticle chosen from a
wider range than before. After these there is a
short reading and response and the singing or
recitation of the Benedictus . Vespers has a very
similar structure, differing in that Pius X
assigned to it five psalms (now reduced to 2
psalms and a New Testament canticle) and
the Magnificat took the place of the Benedictus . On
some days in Pius X’s arrangement, but now
always, there follow Preces or intercessions. In
the present arrangement, the Lord’s Prayer is
also recited before the concluding prayer.
Terce, Sext and None have an identical
structure, each with three psalms or portions
of psalms. These are followed by a short
reading from Scripture, once referred to as a
“little chapter” (capitulum) , and by a versicle
and response. The Lesser Litany (Kyrie and
the Lord’s Prayer) of Pius X’s arrangement
have now been omitted.
Prime and Compline also were of similar
structure, though different from Terce, Sext
and None.