The Liturgy of the Hours

In his Chapter on “The Discipline of Psalmody” (RB 19), St. Benedict writes,

“We believe that the divine presence is everywhere… [and] beyond the least doubt we should believe this to be especially true when we celebrate the divine office. We must always remember, therefore, what the Prophet says: Serve the Lord with fear (Ps 2:11), and again, Sing praise wisely (Ps 46:8), and, In the presence of the angels I will sing to you (Ps 137:1)... let us stand to sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices.”

Whether you are praying the Psalms with your spouse, your whole family, or with a roommate, or by yourself, St. Benedict wants you to know that you are not alone. There is no such thing as a private recitation of the office. When we pray, we pray as the whole church – we, the church suffering, together with the angels and saints, and Christ our head, praising the divine presence of God who is always before us.

SUGGESTIONS:

We do not speak these words like we would just any words. With these words we enter into dialogue with God. Here are some ways we can acknowledge this:

• Speak the words slowly and think about what the words mean.

• Pray in Choirs. If more than one person is present we embody this divine dialogue by taking turns praying the stanzas out loud. One group, “Choir 1”, prays the the first stanza of each psalm. The other, “Choir 2”, responds with the second stanza, and they continue to alternate. • Pray in unison. Listen to each other and pray so that no single voice dominates. When even our voices and breath move together in this way, it is a concrete sign of the one body of Christ united in the Holy Spirit (Spiritus means “breath” or “spirit”).

• Pray with your whole body. Whether we stand or sit we do it with energy and attention. • Sing. Listen to the monks and follow along if you are streaming. By yourself we suggest singing recto tono, on a single pitch. • Bow at the doxology (Glory be to the Father…) because we are in the presence of the glory of God the Father to whom we speak, the Son whose word resonates in us, and the Spirit who moves us as one.

For notes on when some of these elements happen watch the abbey’s livestream and see Conference #1 for more explanation and demonstration.