What is the Liturgy of the Hours?

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The Liturgy of the Hours is an ancient, structured way of praying Scripture throughout the day, focusing especially on the Psalms. It hearkens back to the Jewish custom of praying at fixed hours, a practice early Christians continued. Eventually, this form of prayer became known as the Liturgy of the Hours, also called the Divine Office. It is a liturgy because, like the Mass and other sacraments, it is a public prayer of the Church, Christ’s Mystical Body, as distinct from private devotions such as the Rosary, novenas, or personal prayer.

The Liturgy of the Hours is composed of five major “hours” or times of prayer:

• Morning Prayer, also known as Lauds, prayed first thing in the morning

• Daytime Prayer, prayed sometime between mid-morning and mid-afternoon

• Evening Prayer, also known as Vespers, prayed in the early evening

• Night Prayer, also known as Compline, offered just before bedtime

• Office of Readings, the longest hour, featuring lengthy readings from the Bible, Church Fathers, or other saints, prayed at any point during the day

The word “hours” can be misleading. It doesn’t refer to the time it takes to complete each prayer, but to the hours of the day. None of the liturgical hours takes anywhere close to sixty minutes. In fact, the two main hours, Morning and Evening Prayer, take around fifteen minutes each, while Night Prayer takes only five to ten minutes.