The
Divine Office is a term used by St Benedict to
refer to the regular times of common prayer in
the monastery. He also calls it the ‘work
of God’, and it is the most important work
a monk does in the monastery.
St Paul told the early Christians to pray constantly.
St Benedict suggests seven times a day when his monks
would come together to pray: at daybreak (Lauds);
the start of the morning (Prime); during the working
day at the third, sixth and ninth hours (Terce, Sext,
None); as afternoon turns to evening (Vespers) and
before going to bed (Compline). He also kept to the
monastic tradition of a long time of prayer during
darkness: monks were to get up very early for Vigils.
Due to the regularity of these hours of prayer, the
Divine Office is also known as the Liturgy of the
Hours. These times are a way of making every day
holy to God; they remind that we look to God for
the meaning and direction of our lives; God always
comes first and whatever we do is secondary to him.
During these times above all, a monk listens to God,
and to his word in the Bible. This is the heart of
every time of prayer. To prepare himself to listen,
the monk sings psalms and other songs from the Bible.
The Psalms help focus the mind on God and to provide
a stable source for prayer, for they express a wide
variety of emotions, thoughts and aspirations. We
remember our need for God’s help, we thank
him for his mercy and kindness, and together with
the rest of the Church we pray for the whole world.
This is one concrete way in which monks seek to make
Benedict's dream of the monastery as a "school
of the Lord's service" come true. Many modern
monasteries, including Downside, have adapted the
times of prayer to fit the more varied patterns of
daily work in our communities, e.g. by omitting Prime,
and by having only one midday office instead of the
traditional Terce, Sext and None, but this does not
detract from the essential purpose of the Office:
to keep God at the centre of our lives as individuals
and as a community.
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