My new breviaries arrived in the mail the other day. I ordered the full, four-volume set bound in black leather.
They are beautiful. The books are a gift to myself for being accepted to the seminary. Starting in August, I begin priestly studies at Blessed John XXIII National Seminary outside Boston, where I will pray the Liturgy of the Hours with my new prayer books every day.
The Liturgy of the Hours is the official non-sacramental prayer of the Church — it is the prayer of the Church. The breviary, or book that contains the psalms, canticles and antiphons of the liturgy, provides structured prayer, meditation, and reflection at regular intervals throughout the day.
From its inception, the Roman Catholic Church has held the custom of celebrating daily the Liturgy of the Hours, thereby fulfilling Christ's precept to "pray without ceasing", and offering praise to the Father who intercedes for the salvation of the world.
A priest (or a potential one for that matter) is called to be a man of prayer. Clerics are mandated to remain faithful to prayer and service of the Word. In fact, they make that promise to the bishop when they are ordained. By praying the Divine Office, presbyters and deacons demonstrate fidelity to the liturgy before the faithful needing spiritual direction.
The Liturgy of the Hours is not just for the clergy; it was crafted for the entire people of God, so Christ may continue His priestly ministry within us and claim us as his own. All His people can participate in these prayers, thereby harmonizing our voices in praise to God in one accord.
In its coverage of world affairs, the media frequently note that Muslims pray five times a day. Television footage often displays rows of men kneeling on rugs and bowed in prayer. While that may be true for many devout practitioners of Islam, I would contend that the vast majority of Muslims, like Christians, are not so faithful. Daily concerns like earning a living to support a family can override a prayerful spirit. Christian prayer is structured so that we can — and should — worship seven times a day, and I'm not even counting the Rosary, the Regina Caeli or the Angelus.
The liturgy also serves as the antidote for our increasingly secular world. I commit to the Divine Office because the practice anchors me in the reality of the Church and extends the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Altar — a perpetual spiritual experience with the Eucharist. Daily I take up my thick, black book, running my fingers over the words embossed on its onionskin pages laminated in gold, delighting in these ancient rhythms, poems spiritual author Thomas Merton called "the Church's perfect prayers."
In the 60s, the recitation of the Hours among the common priesthood was brought back into practice by the Second Vatican Council. Earlier in the century, Pope Pius XII, writing in his 1947 encyclical, Mediator Dei, proposed that these prayers unite us with the mind of Christ and transcend the boundaries of time. He wrote: "The Word of God, when he assumed a human nature, introduced into this land of exile the hymn that in heaven is sung throughout all ages."
By his Word, the Lord unites us with Himself and each other by singing these divine canticles composed in eternity. Think of it like this: Because of time zone differences, Catholics around the world are praying the Liturgy of the Hours at every moment, meaning that, by their recitation, each moment — all time — is sanctified. The world belongs to God.
In his Confessions, Saint Augustine of Hippo reflected on how hearing the Liturgy the first time brought him to tears. "How I wept when I heard your hymns and canticles, being deeply moved by the sweet singing of the Church."
The Liturgy of the Hours is truly the prayer of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the Lord's gift to bishops, priests, deacons, and the religious, indeed, all God's people, and should be undertaken every day to maintain a prayerful spirit, an expression of gratitude to the One who gives rich rewards to all.
