#DIVINE OFFICE EVENING PRAYER FULL#

The Christian prayer of that time consisted of almost the same elements as the Jewish: recital or chanting of psalms, reading of the Old Testament, to which was soon added reading of the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, and at times canticles composed or improvised by the assistants. The Apostles observed the Jewish custom of praying at midnight, terce, sext, none ( Acts 10:3, 9 16:25 etc.).

In the Psalms we find expressions like: 'I will meditate on thee in the morning' 'I rose at midnight to give praise to thee' 'Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and he shall hear my voice' 'Seven times a day I have given praise to thee' etc. The custom of reciting prayers at certain hours of the day or night goes back to the Jews, from whom Christians have borrowed it. We deal here only with the general questions that have not been dwelt on in those articles. In the articles BREVIARY CANONICAL HOURS MATINS PRIME TERCE SEXT NONE VESPERS, the reader will find treated the special questions concerning the meaning and history of each of the hours, the obligation of reciting these prayers, the history of the formation of the Breviary, etc. 'Saint-office' signifies a Roman congregation, the functions of which are well known, and the words should not be used to replace the name 'Divine Office', which is much more suitable and has been used from ancient times. The usage in France of the expression 'saint-office' as synonymous with 'office divin' is not correct. Hittorp, in the sixteenth century, entitled his collection of medieval liturgical works 'De Catholicæ Ecclesiæ divinis officiis ac ministeriis' (Cologne, 1568). Thus Walafrid Strabo, Pseudo-Alcuin, Rupert de Tuy entitle their works on liturgical ceremonies 'De officiis divinis'. The expression 'officium divinum' is used in the same sense by the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle (800), the IV Lateran (1215), and Vienne (1311) but it is also used to signify any office of the Church. The Greeks employ 'synaxis' and 'canon' in this sense. 'Agenda', 'agenda mortuorum', 'agenda missarum', 'solemnitas', 'missa' were also used. 'Cursus' is the form used by Gregory writing: 'exsurgente abbate cum monachis ad celebrandum cursum' (De glor. 'Canonical Hours', 'Breviary', 'Diurnal and Nocturnal Office', 'Ecclesiastical Office', 'Cursus ecclesiasticus', or simply 'cursus' are synonyms of 'Divine Office'.

The Divine Office comprises only the recitation of certain prayers in the Breviary, and does not include the Mass and other liturgical ceremonies. This expression signifies etymologically a duty accomplished for God in virtue of a Divine precept it means, in ecclesiastical language, certain prayers to be recited at fixed hours of the day or night by priests, religious, or clerics, and, in general, by all those obliged by their vocation to fulfil this duty. ('Liturgy of the Hours' The expression 'divine office' Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99.

#DIVINE OFFICE EVENING PRAYER FULL#

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Divine office evening prayer