CCM Bulletin Part 2

This email contains a FAQ about the Liturgy of the Hours, a traditional form of prayer in the Church. If you are interested in experiencing the Liturgy of the Hours, you can join Morning Prayer in the Oasis, Mon-Thurs at 9am. The Episcopal version of Morning Prayer is being used, but it is similar to what you’d find in a Catholic prayer book. ~ Karen

FAQ… What is Evening Prayer? Morning Prayer? The Liturgy of the Hours?

• First of all, what is prayer? Prayer is the conscious, deliberate act of opening ourselves to the presence of God. It takes many forms. There is no one right way to pray. Every action we perform that expresses our relationship before God and our relationship with God can be an act of prayer if we have that intention.
• One type of prayer is liturgical prayer. Liturgy is the official public worship of the Church. It is the summit of the Church’s activity and the fountain from which all its power flows. It includes the Mass, the sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours, and other public Church rites like the dedication of a church. (Liturgical prayer would not include praying the rosary, Taizé services, or Centering Prayer, for example; they are excellent ways to pray and worship, but they are not official ordered public prayers of the Church.)
• Liturgy and liturgical prayer recognize the sacramentality of the world: particular objects, actions, or events can reveal God’s presence and saving action in our lives. Time too can be sacramental and certain liturgical prayers and concepts highlight this.
• Scripture tells us “Pray without ceasing.” The early Christian communities developed a sequence of prayers throughout the day to sanctify the daily round. This evolved into the Liturgy of the Hours which consecrates and offers to God the cycle of day and night and the whole range of human activity that fills them. The traditional cycle of prayers includes Morning Prayers (formerly known as Lauds and Matins), three daytime moments of prayer (Terce, Sext, None), Evening Prayer (Vespers), and Night Prayer (Compline).
• Although at one time praying the Hours came to be limited to clergy and religious, it was always meant to be the prayer of the whole Church, and since Vatican II it is once again the privilege and the duty of all the baptized. Because it is prayed by the whole Church across the world, echoing the worship of the heavenly host, the Hours is public prayer even when prayed by an individual alone in a room. 
• The two most important prayers (and the minimal hours to be prayed) are Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, the “hinges of the day.” Morning Prayer dedicates the day to the service of God. As the light dawns, it celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the “sun of justice,” who enlightens the world. Evening Prayer is a time to give thanks for the day and its events. As we offer an “evening sacrifice of prayer” we remember the redemptive work of Jesus Christ through his passion and death, and pray for forgiveness for our sins and the needs of the world.
• The psalms are central to the Liturgy of the Hours. Songs of praise, petition, lamentation, and thanksgiving, they reflect the breadth of human experience and offer it up to God. Even if we cannot resonate with a particular psalm being prayed, we pray as the Body of Christ, rejoicing with those who rejoice and sorrowing with those who sorrow.
• There are two major forms of the Liturgy of the Hours. The Monastic Hours originated with the desert monks who prayed all day long. It involved prayer seven times a day, use of all 150 psalms (which monks often knew by heart), and a lot of scripture and writings of the Church Fathers and saints. Cathedral Hours were developed in the early churches to be prayed by the community every morning and evening. Fewer psalms were used and shorter readings. Today one can pray the Hours in either format; the monastic pattern (the breviary, which comprises several volumes), or one of the simplified single-volume versions.

___________________

Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423