The New Liturgy of the Hours

The Church has two types of public prayer it offers to God on behalf of all the world: the Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office, is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer. The Hours are a meditative dialogue on the mystery of Christ, using scripture and prayer.

The Divine Office "is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father." (SC 84). Each of the five canonical Hours includes selections from the Psalms that culminate in a scriptural proclamation. The two most important or hinge Hours are Morning and Evening Prayer. These each include a Gospel canticle: the Canticle of Zechariah from Luke 1:68-79 for Morning Prayer (known as the Benedictus), and the Canticle of Mary from Luke 1:46-55 for Evening Prayer (known as the Magnificat). The Gospel canticle acts as a kind of meditative extension of the scriptural proclamation in light of the Christ event. Morning and Evening Prayer also include intercessions that flow from the scriptural proclamation just as the Psalms prepare for it. The Divine Office is so important that while priests are not required to celebrate Mass daily, they are canonically required to pray each of the five hours every single day, and every deacon is canonically required to pray the two hinge hours every single day.

With the importance of the Liturgy of the Hours being so clear, it's obvious then that the major revision of the Liturgy that is being promulgated next year so significant. The current English edition of the Liturgy of the Hours was translated in the 1970s. Since then, the Church has canonized dozens of saints, revised the liturgical calendar, and approved a more faithful translation of the sacred texts. After years of development, this new edition incorporates those changes, bringing greater accuracy, richer biblical language, restored hymnody, and expanded liturgical content.

Two publishers have been chosen to print the new books for the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition in the United States: Bishop Robert Barron's Word on Fire Press, and Ascension Press, who is known for their work with Fr. Mike Schmitz, such as Bible in a Year. In Ascension's edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, the artwork throughout the book is done by local Phoenix artist Ruth Stricklin, whose artwork fills a number of churches throughout our Diocese, including the ASU Newman Center, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Joan of Arc, and St. Gabriel the Archangel. I encourage you to join the universal Church in praying this important daily prayer by picking up a copy of either publisher's edition of the Liturgy of the Hours when it becomes available next year.