Theophilus Monk’s Christian Internet Ministry

The Liturgy of the Hours as a “Liturgy” is part of the public worship of the Church. It is “of the Hours” since it refers to the prayers of the Church which consecrate the different hours of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is also known as the Divine Office. The Liturgy of the Hours is the official prayer of the Church and consists of an arrangement of Psalms, hymns, readings, intercessions, and prayers that are read seven times during the day. These prayers are known as the Morning Prayer; Daytime prayer at Midmorning, Midday, and Midafternoon; Evening Prayer; and Night Prayer. There is also an Office of Readings which may be read at anytime during the day or even the night before. The Liturgy of the Hours is not just for the clergy or the religious, but everyone is invited to pray the Divine Office and participate in the prayer of the whole people of God. This is a great way through prayer to stay focused on God during the day and to increase your spiritual development. Unlike the single volume Christian Prayer, this is the complete four volume set with a more extensive set of non-biblical readings from the Church Fathers and other writers. You can order the complete set or one volume at a time for a given season of the Church year from this link http://www.catholicbookpublishing.com/BrowseByDepartments.aspx?DepID=90 , be sure to get each year for a few bucks the St. Joseph Guide for the Book Christian Prayer which has the right pages for each day of the liturgical year which is available from the second link above.