LODI (Laudes matutinae). - Solemn prayer at sunrise, already in use in the early Christian centuries (Tertullian, *De oratione*, 25: “ingressu lucis”; *Peregrinatio Aetheriae* [CSEL, 39, 71 sqq.]: “ubi coepit lucescere”). It was prescribed in the *Traditio* of Hippolytus of Rome (R. H. Connolly, *The so-called egyptian Church order*, Cambridge 1916, n. 64, note 4) and in the *Apostolic Constitutions* (II, 59; VIII, 34-39); from the 4th-5th centuries it was in use among the clergy of the basilicas and in monasteries. The L. joyfully conclude the nocturnal prayer; hence in choral office these two canonical hours are not separated. From the 12th century the Morning Office, while retaining the name *Mattutinae* for the nocturnal prayer, was simply called *Laudes* (L.).
The most ancient elements are Psalms 50, 62 and 66, then at Rome a variable canticle according to the day, reserving the *Benedicite* for Sunday; followed by Psalms 148, 149, 150, already in use in the ritual of the Synagogue. A short lesson or chapter, originally lacking in the Roman Office but introduced into the monastic Office by St Benedict, was also adopted in the Roman Office in the 7th century; the same may be said of the hymn introduced into the Roman Office in the 12th century. The high points of the Morning Office are the recitation of the *Benedictus* and the solemn incensation of the altar, already recorded in the *Ordo Lateranensis* of Cardinal Bernard (written before 1145; ed. L. Fischer, Munich 1916). With the reform of Pius X, the order of psalms used since the 5th-6th centuries was changed; a double scheme of L. was introduced, festive and penitential (Advent and Septuagesima-Lent). Following the Roman model, St Benedict ordered the monastic L., but added the chapter and the hymn.