SESTA. – A canonical hour to be recited at the sixth hour of the day (according to the Greco-Roman division), that is, around midday.
The hymn recalls the burden of work and the heat of the day in order to pray for peace of soul amid the dangers of struggle and passion. The ancient writers (fopolito, Constit. Apostol.) place the Crucifixion of the Lord precisely at that hour of the day. S. has the same origin and structure as the other minor hours of the day, Nona (v.).
BIBL.: H. Leclercq, Sexte et Tierce, in DACL, XV, 1, cols. 1396–99. C. Callewaert, De Breu. rom. liturgia, Bruges 1939, nos. 212, 226, 317, 318; P. Albrigi, Sacra liturg. L'oraz. pubblica, Vicenza 1942, pp. 88–90, 439–41; M. Righetti, Man. di stor. litur., Milan 1946, pp. 421–23, 584–86. Pietro Siffrin