LODI (Laudes matutinae). — Solemn prayer at sunrise,
already in use in the first Christian centuries (Tertullian, De oratione, 25: «ingressu lucis»; Peregrinatio Aetheriae [CSEL, 39, 71 ff.]: «ubi coepit lucescere»). It was prescribed in the Traditio of Hippolytus Romanus (R. H. Connolly, The so-called egyptian Church order, Cambridge 1916, no. 64, note 4) and in the Apostolic Constitutions (11, 59; VIII, 34-39); from the 4th–5th centuries it was in use among the clergy of the basilicas and in monasteries. The L. festively conclude the night prayer; consequently, in the choral Office these two canonical hours are not separated. From the 12th century onward, the Morning Office, while leaving the name Matutinae to the night prayer, was simply called Laudes (L.).
The most ancient elements are Psalms 50, 62, and 66, followed at Rome by a canticle varying according to the day, with the Benedicite reserved for Sunday; then come Psalms 148, 149, and 150, already in use in the ritual of the Synagogue. A brief lesson or chapter, originally absent from the Roman Office but introduced into the monastic Office by s. Benedict, also passed into 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 Bernardo (written before 1145; ed. L. Fischer, Munich 1916). With the reform of Pius X, the order of the psalms used since the 5th–6th centuries was changed; a twofold arrangement of L. was introduced, festal and penitential (Advent and Septuagesima–Lent). Following the Roman model, s. Benedict arranged the monastic L., but added the chapter and the hymn.