Getting Started
What are the “Hours” of the Liturgy of the Hours?
The “Hours” referred to here are the prayers said a specific parts of the day and not the length of time it takes. The Church has set 7 times of the day aside to pray. The precise times aren’t super strict and you can pray each hour in the general time of day that the name suggests. These are the names and approximate times of the hours.
| Time | Type | Latin Name | English Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floating | Major | Officium lectionis or Matins | Office of Readings |
| ~6am | Major | Lauds | Morning Prayer |
| ~9am | Minor | Terse | Midmorning Prayer |
| ~12pm | Minor | Sext | Midday Prayer |
| ~3pm | Minor | None | Midafternoon Prayer |
| ~6pm | Major | Vespers | Evening Prayer |
| ~9pm | Minor | Compline | Night Prayer |
What “Hours” Should I Start With?
I would recommend that you start with either Lauds, Vespers, or Compline. Lauds and Vespers are a great place to start as the Church has emphasized them as the “Hinge Hours”. They are a great way to mark your morning and evening each day by calling to mind our Lord.
Besides being my favorate hour, Compline is a great way to end your day. It is short with an examination of concience and ends with a relection on our end and a Marian Antiphon.
How can I Pray the Liturgy of the Hours?
The Liturgy of the Hours can be prayed using the physical books or using apps.
Books
The books have a bit of a learning curve and can be confusing when first starting out. For the US there are 3 main editions you will encounter.
The first edition is the “Shorter Christian Prayer”. This is the smallest and shortest of them all. It contains the texts to pray Lauds, Vespers, and Compline. It only contains the texts to pray weekdays, solemnities, and feasts of our Lord. It does not contain the texts for memorials and other feasts. For Lent, Advent, Christmas, and Easter, it contains a condensed version of the texts.
If you are first starting out with the books, this is a good place to initially start as it is the simplest and cheapest option. The typical edition runs around $20 as of this writing.
The next edition is the “Christian Prayer”. This edition contains the complete texts for Lauds, Vespers, and Compline as well as samplings of the daytime hours and the Office of Readings. It also contains music for the hymns in the back of the book. The other editions don’t.
This edition is good if you are only planning on praying Lauds/Vespers/Compline and want the complete texts. As of this writing it costs around $50 depending on the edition and where you get it.
The last edition is the complete 4 volume set. It contains the complete texts for all the hours. The first volume contains Advent and Christmas. The second volume contains Lent and Easter. The last two volumes divide up Ordinary Time.
This edition is great if you are going to pray the Office of Readings or the entire office. It is the most expensive at around $200 for the entire set depending on the edition.
One thing to note about these editions is that the readings sometimes are different lengths. The General Instruction for the Liturgy of the Hours allows for longer readings than what the typical edition has.
Apps
If you just want to get in the rhythem of praying the office initially, without having to deal with the complexities of using a book, you can use an app. DivineOffice.org and iBreviary are two great free options that contain the US translation of the Liturgy of the Hours. For the UK and parts of the world that use that translation, I hear that Universalis has a great option there but it is not free.
Audio
If you want to listen along to the hours, there are a few places I am aware of that have the hours broadcasted. DivineOffice.org has audio recordings of each of the hours. There EWTN has Vespers on Sundays. Last but not least SingTheHours is a Youtube channel that broadcasts the Liturgy of the Hours for Lauds and Vespers every day.