90. The divine office, because it
is the public prayer of the Church, is a source of piety, and nourishment for
personal prayer. And therefore priests and all others who take part in the
divine office are earnestly exhorted in the Lord to attune their minds to their
voices when praying it. The better to achieve this, let them take steps to
improve their understanding of the liturgy and of the bible, especially of the
psalms.
In revising the Roman office, its ancient and venerable treasures are to be so
adapted that all those to whom they are handed on may more extensively and
easily draw profit from them.
91. So that it may really be possible in practice to observe the course of the
hours proposed in Art. 89, the psalms are no longer to be distributed throughout
one week, but through some longer period of time.
The work of revising the psalter, already happily begun, is to be finished as
soon as possible, and is to take into account the style of Christian Latin, the
liturgical use of psalms, also when sung, and the entire tradition of the Latin
Church.
100. Pastors of souls should see to it that the chief hours, especially Vespers,
are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and the more solemn feasts. And
the laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the
priests, or among themselves, or even individually.
The most important "Hours" are Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. These become the two hinges, as it were, of the daily office.
At Morning Prayer intercessions are given to consecrate the day in order to prepare for the work of the day; while at Evening Prayer supplications have been added following the pattern of the Prayer of the Faithful.
The revision of the official prayer of the Church, taking into account both the oldest traditions and the needs of modern life will, it is hoped, renew and vivify all Christian prayer and serve to nourish the spiritual life of the People of God. We hope, therefore, that the command of our Lord Jesus Christ to his Church to pray without ceasing will be fulfilled. The Liturgy of the Hours will be of great assistance in this, especially when a group assembles together for this purpose and thus presents an unmistakable sign of the Praying Church.
This site was last updated 16/09/03
