“From ancient times the Church has had the custom of celebrating each day the liturgy of the hours. In this way the Church fulfills the Lord’s precept to pray without ceasing, at once offering its praise to God the Father and interceding for the salvation of the world.”
These words are the beginning of a decree from the Office of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship which is part of the Roman Curia at the Vatican in Rome. Part of this decree (made on April 11, 1971) includes a mandate that the Liturgy of the Hours are prayed each day by bishops and priests. When nine of us were ordained as a Permanent Deacons in May 2013, we made a promise to our Bishop that we would faithfully pray morning and evening prayer for the rest of our lives.
The Divine Office, as it’s also called, includes praying three of the 150 psalms during morning prayer and evening prayer as designated by the Church. Since the Liturgy of the Hours is prayed across the world, I find it fascinating (and comforting) to know that at any given time, someone, somewhere is praying for the salvation of the world! We are living out what Jesus taught us… “pray always.” (Luke 18:1)
For me, evening prayer in the coming week is something I look forward to all year! For seven days, beginning December 17, the antiphon before and after praying the Canticle of Mary, begins with “O”; hence, they are called the “O Antiphons.” I’m sure you’ll recognize most of them since they are part of the song, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. Here are the first few words of each of the seven “O Antiphons.”
Dec 17 – O Wisdom, O holy Word of God…
Dec 18 – O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel…
Dec 19 – O Flower of Jesse’s stem…
Dec 20 – O Key of David, O Royal Power of Israel…
Dec 21 – O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light…
Dec 22 – O King of all the nations… O Keystone of the mighty arch of man…
Dec 23 – O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver…
These seven days of evening prayer are followed by evening prayer on December 24, which marks the end of Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season.
The whole church is invited and encouraged to pray the liturgy of the hours. If you’d like to try it, you can find the prayers on-line at www.ibreviary.org/en/ or you could visit Cathedral Book & Gift in downtown Green Bay and purchase the book “Christian Prayer: The Liturgy of the Hours.”
As I pray the “O Antiphons” in the coming week, I will be keeping all of you in my prayers.