liturgy of the hours
The mystery of Christ, his Incarnation and Passover, which we celebrate in the Eucharist especially at Sunday Mass, permeates and transfigures the time of each day, through the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, “the divine office.” This celebration, faithful to the apostolic exhortations to “pray constantly,” is “so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God.” In this “public prayer of the Church,” the faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized.
The Liturgy of the Hours, which is like an extension of the sacrifice of the Mass, does not exclude but rather in a complementary way calls forth the various devotions of the People of God, especially adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Psalms constitute the masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament. They present two inseparable qualities: the personal, and the communal. They extend to all dimensions of history, recalling God’s promises already fulfilled and looking for the coming of the Messiah.1
Gatherings of the laity–for prayer, apostolic work or any other reason–are encouraged to fulfill the Church’s office by celebrating part of the Liturgy of the Hours.2