UFFICIO DIVINO (OFFICIUM ECCLESIASTICUM; HORA; HORAE CANONICAE; PRECES HORARIAE; OPUS DEI; OPUS DIVINUM, CURSUS)

DIVINE OFFICE (Officium ecclesiasticum; hora; horae canonicae; preces horariae; opus Dei; opus divinum, cursus). — These terms designate the Divine Office (excluding the sacrifice), by which the Church, as the minister of public worship, intends to honor God each day at fixed daytime and nighttime hours. By its very nature, this public duty is entrusted to varying degrees to clerics and religious; in praying in the name and manner prescribed by the Church, they perform a public Divine Office.

According to canonical discipline, the Divine Office has long consisted of eight canonical hours, named according to their relationship, in ancient usage, to the principal moments of day and night. Matins, which was customarily recited at night, as is still the practice in some religious institutes, is now called the Nocturn; the other hours, which are daytime, are: Lauds (to be recited at daybreak), Prime (at 6 a.m., the beginning of the daily work), Terce (at 9 a.m.), Sext (at noon), None (at 3 p.m.), Vespers (at sunset), and Compline (before retiring). Matins, Lauds, and Vespers are called the Major Hours because of their more extensive structure; the others are called the Minor Hours (see individual entries).

Although by its very nature public, the recitation of the canonical hours may be either private or choral.

1. Private Recitation

It is obligatory for all clerics in sacred orders, even those under censure; for any cleric holding a benefice; and for all solemnly professed religious (both men and women) in institutes where choral recitation is obligatory (cc. 135, 1475, 610). Before the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the obligation for clerics arose from custom.

The obligation is grave; the omission of a single minor hour or its equivalent is considered grave (except for the Vespers of Holy Saturday); however, the omission of the entire Divine Office of the day constitutes but one fault, albeit a more serious one.

The obligation is grave also with respect to certain particulars: 1) in the Latin Church, Latin is obligatory, under pain of nullity; 2) the Office must follow the calendar of the day, except in the case of subjective error (officium pro officio valet, and probably also hora pro hora, provided the quantity is approximately equal). If someone knowingly recites one Office for another of approximately equal length, he commits a light fault. If an Office is anticipated by error, it must be repeated at the proper time without committing another fault, thereby making up for the omitted Office; 3) the recitation must be vocal, with each syllable distinctly pronounced, even if the person does not hear them. For some religious institutes, the privilege of mental recitation is debated; 4) the recitation must be a human act, in accordance with its value; however, external attention suffices (which excludes only those external occupations incompatible with vocal recitation), while internal attention (freedom from distractions), though praiseworthy, is not required unless the recitation becomes mechanical; distraction, if noticed, may constitute a light fault. To foster internal attention during recitation before the Blessed Sacrament, special indulgences are attached (Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, Rome 1952, nn. 731, 736); 5) the Office must be recited within the 24 hours, from midnight to midnight (pondus diei), in accordance with can. 33 § 1. Matins with Lauds may be anticipated in the afternoon after 2 p.m. (S. Congr. Rituum, 22 May 1905); one who foresees an impediment for the following day is not obliged to anticipate the recitation. For priests, the recitation of Matins with Lauds before the possible celebration of Mass is commendable; this rubric is probably only directive, not prescriptive. It is praiseworthy to recite the first four minor hours and Vespers in the morning on weekdays of Lent; in the afternoon, Vespers and Compline are recited. One who foresees an impediment for the rest of the day must anticipate the recitation. The obligation ceases in accordance with common law (physical impossibility, grave impediment or inconvenience, more urgent duties of worship, ministry, or charity, legitimate dispensation).

2. Choral Recitation

The obligation is grave for each Chapter (cathedral or collegiate); for all individual clerics holding a choral benefice; and for all male and female religious houses canonically erected with at least four non-converted religious who are free, in institutes where choral obligation exists (cc. 413 ff.; 1472 ff.; 610). By law of foundation or apostolic indult, reductions may be granted in this regard.

There is a difference between the obligation of canons and beneficed clerics and that of religious: in the former, the obligation is both collegial and personal, resting on the Chapter as such and on each individual member; in religious institutes, it rests directly on the community.

1) The obligation is real, in that it requires the actual and complete execution in the manner and form prescribed by the Church. It is local, to be fulfilled in the sacred place (church) where the moral person has its seat; outside of it, even if gathered together, the members do not fulfill the obligation, though recitation in a place adjoining the church (sacristy, penitentiary) is probably licit. It must be recited daily; in some Chapters, instead of full service (the participation of all members not legitimately impeded), there is service by turns, by concession of the Holy See; usually major solemnities are excluded. In religious communities, since the obligation does not rest on individuals, one cannot speak of service by turns; however, especially in places of study, superiors, in accordance with can. 589 § 2, may make provisions in this regard; 2) the obligation is grave for the superior (the bishop), who must ensure this honor, daily, imposed by canon law, and for individual beneficed clerics not legitimately exempt, since it is a personal burden. The gravity of choral officiation is not to be computed as that of private recitation; the sporadic omission of a canonical hour is not considered grave; for the beneficed cleric, illegitimate absence for a week is required. In this regard, there is the double sanction of cc. 1475 and 2381 (non facti fructus suos, possible deprivation of the benefice). For religious, superiors must oversee the fulfillment of the obligation, provided there are at least four religious not legitimately impeded; however, they must not significantly alter the schedule, since the obligation is divisible, so that if a canonical hour cannot be recited at its proper time, there is no strict obligation to recite II. For individual religious, the obligation is in itself light, becoming grave in case of scandal, of a superior’s precept, or of choral recitation being rendered impossible by their absence; 3) inasmuch as it is vocal, it must be done in the prescribed parts (hymns, psalms, etc.) alternately and in an intelligible manner, even if some in the choir do not hear the others; 4) the order set down in the Breviary and calendar must be followed (the inversion without proportional cause of any canonical hour is a light fault), and the liturgical time must be maintained. Matins with Lauds should in itself be said between midnight and noon; by indult, dispensation, or custom, it may be anticipated after mid-afternoon (thus the time varies according to the month); the minor canonical hours in the morning, with the Mass interposed in accordance with the rubrics; Vespers on weekdays of Lent are anticipated before lunch, and for the rest of the year are said in the afternoon; Compline is likewise anticipated; 5) excusing causes from choral recitation: for Chapters, indult, public grave inconvenience; for religious, the deficiency of number is added; for individual beneficed clerics, vacations in accordance with can. 418, substitution (can. 419), special assignments for the diocese (cc. 420 ff.), jubilee (can. 422); for individual religious, dispensation, privilege, grave inconvenience.

I. HISTORY OF THE LITURGICAL HOURS

1. *Private Hours in the First Three Centuries.* – Sacred Scripture shows that the Apostles followed the times of prayer already in use in the synagogue for their own prayer, namely the third hour (Acts 2:15), the sixth hour (Acts 10:9), and the ninth hour (Acts 3:1), which are therefore also called “apostolic hours.” To these were naturally added the morning and evening prayers. The *Didachē* (ch. 8) orders the private recitation of the *Pater noster* three times a day, without specifying the exact hour; but since the *Didachē* originated in the Syro-Palestinian region, it is assumed that the Syro-Palestinian usage, namely the “apostolic hours,” was also followed for this recitation. St. Clement of Alexandria (Strom., VII, 7), for Alexandria, and Tertullian (De ieiunio, 10; De orat., 25), for Latin Africa, refer to a twofold grouping of prayers: the first group consisting of morning and evening prayer, public at least on days when the Eucharist and the agape were celebrated; the second group, of private devotion, consisting of the “apostolic hours.” The same is found in St. Cyprian (De dominica oratione, 35-36); he too distinguishes two sets of prayer hours: the first during the day, the “apostolic hours,” associated with the commemoration of the events recounted in the *Acts* and with the Passion of Christ; the second consisting of morning, evening, and night prayers: Christ is the true light in the Resurrection and in the Parousia. The hours of the day and of midnight (also mentioned by Tertullian) came from private devotion; those of morning, evening, and night, with readings from Holy Scripture and the singing of psalms, belonged to a public service which, if not daily, was replaced by private devotion. Hippolytus in the *Apostolic Tradition* (ch. 35) is the first to refer to the division of the day and the hours of prayer in a certain temporal order: after rising, one washes the hands to recite the morning prayer; one goes to the church to attend the scriptural reading and the singing of psalms (the public morning prayer distinct from the Holy Eucharist); if not public, it is done at home; during the day the “apostolic hours” should not be neglected. He briefly mentions the evening prayer; the night prayer—also of private devotion—is twofold: at midnight and at cockcrow (gallicant; around three o’clock). The Christians followed the Greek and Roman division of the day and night for their hours of prayer, publicly announced hours, as Tertullian notes (De ieiunio, 10: “quae publicae resonant”). The prayers had no fixed or official formulas, except for the *Pater noster*; the prayers and readings were chosen and determined by the one presiding or by private devotion.

2. *The Formation of the Divine Office in Monasteries and Convents.* – In the 4th century, as ascetic life was organized communally, the hours of prayer, hitherto private, became common prayer. Especially the night prayer was preferred and established as a “vigil” with psalms, readings, and responsories. The Egyptian monks had in common only Vespers and the night prayer combined with the prayer at dawn. The Palestinian and Syrian monks, however, also practiced common daytime prayer, namely the “apostolic hours.” The Western monks followed this example. In the course of the 5th and 6th centuries, the daytime hours were preceded by Lauds (from Bethlehem; cf. Froger [V. op. cit., in bibl.]) and Prime; to close the day, St. Basil and St. Benedict added Compline, the hour of retiring. Thus the hours of prayer received their structure and number still in existence today. The internal structure also comes from the monks. The preferred prayer was the Psalter, first recited consecutively, one psalm after another. Their number was left free to individuals. Hermits and others recited the entire Psalter of 150 psalms in a single day. Finally, the psalms were distributed over a weekly or biweekly cycle; this is the main part of the Office. To the recitation of the psalms was added, at first, the scriptural reading; after a certain number of psalms, one or more readings were taken from both Testaments. Since only a few could read, the reading was done publicly by one or more readers or cantors. The reading was sometimes so extensive as to occupy an entire book. Besides Scripture, hagiographical writings, the passions of the martyrs, and the sermons and homilies of the Fathers were read, distributed over the three night vigils. As an echo of the reading, psalms were recited in a responsorial manner between the individual lessons. A third constitutive element was the prayer “sub silentio,” that is, after the reading or the singing of the psalms each person prayed in silence and on bended knee, then stood in an attitude of prayer; this was followed by an improvised prayer recited by the superior. At the end of the hour, the *Pater noster* was recited, begun by the officiant and continued by the others in silence; the final verses were said aloud in common. St. Benedict introduced into Lauds and Vespers the recitation of the entire *Pater noster* aloud, reserved for dawn and the superior. The structure of the hours thus comprises all these parts: psalms, readings, and prayers. The psalms were first sung in a responsorial manner (that is, a cantor read the verses, the others responded always with the same verse), then in an antiphonal manner (the verses were sung interspersed with antiphons). The monastic legislators, such as St. Caesarius, St. Aurelian, St. Columbanus, and especially St. Benedict, gave the Office a place of preeminence. St. Benedict’s arrangement then prevailed over all other rules because of its discretion. A very recent study by Fr. J. M. Hanssens on the origin of liturgical prayer, especially on the nature and genesis of Matins and Lauds, offers the following conclusions: a) the Lucernarium and Lauds are the most ancient hours of prayer. In the Lucernarium, the proper psalms in the Roman rite are replaced by five psalms from the Psalter, just as in Lauds. The Lucernarium thus becomes “Vespers.” b) Even in Lauds, the morning Office proper, a psalmodic part deriving from the monastic usage of the vigil or night prayer is prefixed. The morning Office thus consists of two subordinate parts: the nocturnal or pre-dawn part, made up of psalms as preparation for the morning Office, and the properly morning and primitive part. The first part, the nocturnal psalmodic section, never existed by itself as a pre-existent or autonomous Office, but is merely an amplification of the primitive morning Office, to which the monks prefixed the customary recitation of the Psalter, as they did to pass the night (wholly or partially) awake and in prayer. This first part is never concluded like the other hours, but the properly morning Office is immediately added to II. Both of these “parts” are considered as a single morning Office; for this reason it begins toward the dawn preceding sunrise.

### The Formation of the Divine Office of the Churches. The Roman Office

For the history of the Divine Office of the various churches, the sources are not as clear as they are for the monastic Office. St. Jerome (Ad Laetam, ep. 107, 9) refers to six hours of private prayer: at night, at dawn, the three apostolic hours, and the evening sacrifice. In the churches, in addition to the Eucharistic service, there was the “ecological” service, that is, prayers or rather scriptural readings followed by the singing of responsories. This “ecological” service, by the middle of the 4th century, included only the public prayers of morning and evening, namely Lauds and Vespers or the Lucernarium (St. Ambrose, De Abraham, II, 22; St. Augustine, Confess., V, 9; St. Hilary, In ps., 64, 9). In the 4th and 6th centuries, the hour of nocturnal prayer was added, the regular Vigil, which, according to the Liber Pontificalis, was already established by Pope Damasus (366–384). This Vigil encountered some difficulty among the clergy because it was rather burdensome and difficult due to the need to rise at night (cf. the oath of the subdeacon bishops [per singulos dies a primo gallo usque mane], from the 6th century, to celebrate the daily vigil together with their clergy, and the Edict of Emperor Justinian of 528 to the clergy not to be outdone by so many faithful in their participation in the vigils). This vigil does not seem to have been psalmodic but rather composed of readings, canticles, and responsories; it also included the morning hour, namely Lauds, with which the Vigil culminated and ended. The minor hours were introduced on the example and under the influence of the Roman monastic oratories (ad catacumbas, 431–50; St. Peter’s, 450; St. Lawrence’s, 461–68; the Lateran, 590, etc.); Gregory II (715–31), for example, ordered the monks of the monasteries restored near St. Paul’s and St. Mary Major, in addition to the Vigil and Lauds, also to recite the minor hours of Terce, Sext, and None. Compline was recited not in church but in the dormitory. From this participation of the secular clergy in the Office arose the custom, even for them, of the obligation to recite the canonical hours privately, just as the monks were obliged to do so privately in their absence from the monastery.

The ancient Roman or secular Office differs from the monastic Office, as Amalarius attests for the 9th century; the monastic Office is richer and more extensive than the ancient Roman Office. The ancient Roman Office lacks the “Deus in adiutorium,” the invitatory, hymns, chapters, etc.; instead of the 12 psalms and 12 readings of the monastic Office, the Roman Office has only 9 psalms and 9 readings. From the 9th century, Benedictine elements entered the Roman Office (the invitatory, hymns, etc.). On the other hand, an abbreviation of the readings began, and the “Roman Curial Breviary” (v. BREVIARIO) was born. The Roman Office was propagated in England in the 7th century by Benedict Biscop, in Gaul by Chrodegang of Metz (8th century, after 753) and Remedius of Rouen, especially through the Carolingian liturgical reform; under Gregory VII, it also spread in Spain instead of the monastic Office (permitted only in a Tolentan chapel).

**

Pietro Siffrin

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### II. EASTERN RITES

The ascetics in Byzantium in the 5th century practiced continuous prayer (cf. J. Pargoire, Acemites, in *DACL*, I, cols. 307–21); some monks dedicated an Office to each of the twelve hours of the day and night (for the Byzantines, cf. E. Diakovskij, *L’U. delle ore notturne* [in Russian], in *Trudi*, 50 [1909], II, pp. 547–549; for the Ethiopians, cf. S. Salaville, *La Prière de toutes les heures dans la littérature éthiopienne*, in *Studia orientalia liturgico-theologica*, Rome 1940, pp. 170–85). The Eastern Churches, although they have very long Offices, did not follow these excesses. All have the hour of Morning and the hour of Vespers, probably the most ancient, and, with some exceptions, also the daytime hours of Terce, Sext, and None, as private prayer; all have prefixed to the morning hour the hour of the night, and almost all have added to it the hour of Prime, and to Vespers the hour of Sleep or Compline. But other hours are also found in some rites.

1. **Enumeration of the Hours**
- **Byzantine Rite:** Vespers, Compline, Midnight (a more recent composition), Matins (includes the equivalent of the three Nocturns and Lauds), Prime, Terce, Sext, None. Additionally, in Lent: a “morsia” of the hours of Prime, Terce, Sext, and None, and the typika that take the place of the Divine Liturgy on those days.
- **Armenian Rite:** Vespers, Peace Hour, Compline, of the Night (equivalent to Nocturns), Matins (equivalent to Lauds but greatly expanded), at sunrise, Terce, Sext, None.
- **West-Syrian Rite:** Vespers, Compline, of the Night (includes the equivalent of the three Nocturns and Lauds), Matins (partially resumes Lauds and adds more), Terce, Sext, None.
- **Maronite Rite:** As the West-Syrian rite, but the hour of the Night does not include Lauds.
- **Chaldean Rite:** Vespers, Compline (not always, and when it is, it is added to Vespers), of the Night Matins (equivalent to Lauds); the hours of Terce, Sext, and None are only observed by Catholic monks, who took them from the Maronites.
- **Coptic and Ethiopian Rites:** Vespers, of Sleep, Midnight (includes the equivalent of three Nocturns, and in the Ethiopian rite, the hour “ad gallicantum,” equivalent to Lauds), Prime, Terce, Sext, and None.

2. **Content**
The most ancient element, the psalms, is found everywhere, both as the recitation of the cursus of the Psalter distributed across the hours of Vespers, the night, and the morning, and as the recitation of selected psalms for the different hours, thus intimately connected with each of them. To the psalms are joined biblical canticles in greater or lesser number. The reading of Holy Scripture does not always take place, but rather a gospel on Sundays in the Office; however, among the Copts, a gospel is read every day at the canonical hour. In all Eastern rites, there are countless poetic compositions of various kinds (v. INNODRAFIA). The reading of patristic homilies is found only in the West-Syrian rite, though not always; in the Byzantine rite, it sometimes fills the time between one hour and another. Moreover, salutations, acclamations, litanies, and prayers are not lacking. Among the liturgical actions, the most important is the incensation, especially at Vespers; but in certain cases, processions are not lacking, nor are blessings of bread and oil before the hour of the night.

3. Obligation

Among dissenters the obligation of the Divine Office falls upon the community rather than upon the individual as such, and since married parish priests have family responsibilities, they would not have time for lengthy prayers. Yet even the monk traveling or confined to his cell, like every pious priest, considers it his duty to recite privately, if not the common prayer, at least a part of the Divine Office or other prayers that often imitate the Hours. In some communities, even the laity have the custom of reciting the Divine Office or a substitute for it in church or at home with the family. N. Milasch writes, however, in a different sense (*Das Kirchenrecht in der morgenland. Kirche*, Mostar 1905, p. 285).

Among Catholics, legislation is not uniform, nor is the obligation always clear. The recitation of the Divine Office requires many books that private individuals rarely possess in full; when recited mentally, it demands many hours; often there is a lack of directives from authority to shorten it, or the Divine Office is reduced to the monotonous and unchanging recitation of the Ordinary of the Office; moreover, the recitation of the Divine Office as a strictly individual obligation is not part of the Eastern tradition. It is habitually regarded as preparation for the celebration of the Holy Mass. Various attempts to shorten the Byzantine Divine Office have been made in the past (cf. C. Korolevskij, *La Codification de l'Office byzantin. Les essais dans le passé*, in *Or. christ. Period.*, 19 [1953], pp. 25-60).

a) Italo-Greeks: Each priest is exhorted in mind to recite daily Matins, the Hours, Vespers, and Compline (cf. *Costituzioni del Sinodo intereparchiale* [1940], Grottaferrata 1943, p. 21).

b) Ruthenians: Priests must not omit at random the recitation of the canonical Hours (cf. *Acta et decreta Synodi provinc. Ruthenorum Galiciae habitae Leopoli an. 1891*, Rome 1896, p. 145). Despite the indeterminacy of this decree, the Ruthenians of Galicia consider themselves bound *sub gravi* to the daily recitation of the Divine Office according to the schema drawn up by the same Synod.

c) Melkites: From various synodal decisions and monastic rules, there emerges on the one hand an unclear obligation, and on the other a broad faculty of dispensation granted to bishops and superiors; the lack of books, the absence of directives for abbreviation, and the practice of good priests further increase doubt as to the existence of a strict obligation of conscience.

d) Romanians: The obligation seems to apply only to canons of cathedrals; synodal decrees and custom impose upon all priests the obligation of Matins before the celebration of the Holy Liturgy (cf. A. Moisiu, *De officio divino in Ecclesia romena*, Rome 1944).

e) Armenians: The obligation is in force similar to that existing among Latins, according to an abbreviated schema drawn up by the Synod (cf. *Acta et Decreta Concilii nationalis Armenorum Romae habiti an. 1911*, Rome 1913, n. 740).

f) Syrians and Maronites: There exists the obligation, from the diaconate onward, to recite daily the Divine Office in choir or privately; it is not explicitly stated to be *sub gravi* (cf. *Synodus Sciar-fensis... an. 1888*, Rome 1896, p. 198; for the Synod of Lebanon, seat of 1736, *Mansi*, XXXVIII, cols. 140 and 157).

g) Malankarese: The bishops have imposed the obligation, not further specified, of reciting the Divine Office, indicating the manner of doing so (cf. Placidus a S. Josepho, *De Fontibus iuris eccles. syro-malankaresis* [Fonti, 2ª serie, fasc. VIII], Rome 1937, pp. 96 and 98).

h) Chaldeans: The norms issued under Clement XIII in 1760 (cf. *Mansi*, XLII, 903) obliged *sub gravi* the recitation of the Psalter until an abbreviated Divine Office was published; the Breviary appeared in 1886, but no decree accompanied II.
i) Malabarese: The Synod of Diamper in 1599 introduced an obligation similar to that in force among Latins (cf. *Mansi*, t. XXXV, 1280); but at that time printed books were lacking, and the Synod has no validity; today the obligation exists by reason of custom.

l) Copts: The obligation in force for the clergy includes the private recitation of the Divine Office, though it is not expressly stated to be *sub gravi* (cf. *Synodus Alexandrina Coptorum habita Cairi... an. 1898*, Rome 1899, p. 149).

m) Ethiopians: No law is in force; yet the reading of the Psalter is widely practiced even among the laity.