thought, word, and deed to Christ.
And the Divine Office has become
the mainstay prayer-practice of the
monastic community.
The Liturgy of the Hours is essentially an “ordered round” of common prayer. It follows the rhythms of
the day, the rhythms of the seasons,
the rhythms of the centuries. There
are a total of seven offices or hours
of common prayer in the Roman
Catholic tradition:
• Matins or Vigils—Night prayer
• Lauds—Prayer at dawn
• Terce—Prayer at midmorning
• Sext—Noon prayer
• None—Prayer at midafternoon
• Vespers—Evening prayer
• Compline—Before retiring
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these living examples of faithful folks
praying in all ways. The monks, the
seminarians, and the folks at the
foot of the hill have much to teach
us about prayer, I believe. And I will
offer just a small sampling from their
prayer lives.
The monks’ way:
The Liturgy of the Hours
The monks of St. Meinrad Archabbey
find time for prayer—because they
make time for prayer. The Benedictine motto of Ora et labora, “prayer
and work,” is at the center of their
holy rule of life. The monks pray the
“Divine Office,” an alternate term for
the Liturgy of the Hours, with great
fidelity, doing so from generation to
generation. Their ultimate aim is the
consecration of every moment, every
The Liturgy of the Hours is principally a prayer of praise and petition,
and the psalms are at the heart of
this prayer form. These psalms capture the full realm of human experience, with biblical songs of petition,
lament, thanksgiving, praise, complaint, trust.
Writes Brother Francis Wagner,
O.S.B., monk of Saint Meinrad: “
Together, like ribbons around a package, the Liturgy of the Hours ties up
our days and nights, all they contain,
and all God has given us, as we offer
ourselves and the world with praise,
thanksgiving, and the hope of being
made eternally holy and acceptable
in God’s presence.”
No matter one’s ethnicity or
religious background, these psalm
prayers allow pray-ers to express the
widest range of thoughts and attitudes and aspirations. And because
of the intensity of these psalms, one
may express to God the deepest feel-
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