Praying the Liturgy of the Hours

Read the Catechism in a Year

Catechism in a Year: Day 166

Part Two: How We Celebrate the Christian Mysteries
- Section One: God Acts in Our Regard by Means of Sacred Signs
-- Chapter Two: How We Celebrate the Mysteries of Christ
Question 188: What is the Liturgy of the Hours?

The Liturgy of the Hours is the universal, public prayer of the Church. Biblical readings lead the person who prays it ever deeper into the mystery of the life of Jesus Christ. Throughout the world this gives the Triune God the opportunity at every hour of the day to transform gradually those who pray and also the world. The Liturgy of the Hours is prayed not only by priests and religious. Many Christians who take their faith seriously join their voices with the many thousands of praises and petitions that ascend to God from all over the world.

The seven “hours of prayer” are like a treasury of the Church’s prayers. It also loosens our tongues when we have become speechless because of joy, sorrow, or fear. Again and again one is astonished in reciting the Liturgy of the Hours: an entire reading “coincidentally” applies precisely to my situation. God hears us when we call to him. He answers us in these texts—often in a way that is so specific as to be almost disconcerting. In any case he also allows us to have long periods of silence and dryness so that we can demonstrate our fidelity.

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Question 189: How does the liturgy affect the spaces in which we live?

By his victory, Christ has penetrated all places in the world. He himself is the true Temple, and the worship of God “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:24) is no longer bound up with a particular place. Nevertheless, the Christian world is filled with churches and sacred signs, because men need specific places in which to meet and signs to remind them of this new reality. Every house of God is a symbol for our heavenly Father’s house, to which we are journeying.

Certainly one can pray anywhere—in the forest, on the beach, in bed. But since we men are not merely spiritual but also have a body, we need to see, hear, and feel one another; we need a specific place if we want to meet so as to be the Body of Christ; we must kneel down if we want to worship God; we must eat the transformed bread when it is offered; we must set our bodies in motion when he calls us. And a cross on the roadside will remind us of who owns the world and where our journey is taking us.

Dig Deeper: Corresponding CCC section (1174-1181) and other references here.
Recommended Listening for Good Friday: The Passion of Christ in Light of the Holy Shroud of Turin by Fr. Francis Peffley