UFFICIO DIVINO (Officium ecclesiasticum; horae; horae canonicae; precei horariae; opus Dei; opus divinum, cursus). — These terms designate the divine office (excluding the sacrifice), by which the Church, minister of public worship, intends to honor God each day at designated hours of the day and night. By its nature public, this task is entrusted in varying degrees to clerics and Religious: by praying in the name and according to the form prescribed by the Church, they perform a public U. d.
For some time, according to canonical discipline, the U. d. has consisted of eight canonical hours, named on the basis of their relation, according to ancient usage, to the principal moments of the day and night. Matins, which used to be recited at night, as is still customary in some religious institutes, is called the nocturnal hour; the other hours, diurnal, are: Lauds (to be recited at sunrise), Prime (at 6, the beginning of the daily work), Terce (at 9), Sext (at 12), None (at 15), Vespers (at sunset), Compline (before retiring). Matins, Lauds, and Vespers are called the Greater Hours, because of their more extensive development; the others: Lesser Hours (v. the individual entries).
Although by its nature public, the recitation of the canonical hours may be private or choral.
1. Private recitation. — It is obligatory for all clerics, including those under censure, in sacris; for every cleric who is a beneficiary; for all Religious who are not lay brothers or sisters and who have solemnly professed in male or female institutes in which choral office is obligatory (cann. 135, 1475, 610). Before the CIC, for clerics the obligation arose from custom.
The obligation is grave; the quantity of one lesser hour and its equivalent is considered grave (the Vespers of Holy Saturday is excluded); omission, however, of the entire U. of the day constitutes a single fault, naturally more serious.
The obligation is also grave with regard to certain particulars: 1) in the Western Church, the Latin language 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, assuming the quantity to be approximately equal). Whoever knowingly says one office in place of another of approximately equal quantity on some occasion commits a venial fault. If an office is anticipated through error, it is repeated at the proper time, without erring again, by taking up the omitted office; 3) the recitation must also be vocal, pronouncing the individual syllables, even if the person does not perceive them with his ears. For some religious institutes, the privilege of mental recitation is disputed; 4) the recitation must be a human act, ad valorem; external attention is nevertheless sufficient (which excludes only, as incompatible, external occupations opposed to vocal recitation), whereas internal attention (absence of distractions), although praiseworthy, is not required unless the recitation becomes mechanical; distraction, if noticed, may be a venial fault. To foster internal attention during recitation before the Blessed Sacrament, particular indulgences are attached (Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, Roma 1952, nn. 731, 736); 5) the recitation must take place within the 24 hours, from midnight to midnight (fondus diei), in accordance with can. 33 § 1. Matins with Lauds may be anticipated to the afternoon after 14:00 (S. Congr. Rituum, 22 May 1905); whoever foresees some impediment on the following day is not obliged to anticipate the recitation. For priests, the missal orders the recitation of Matins with Lauds before the possible celebration of Mass; this is probably only a directive, not a preceptive, rubric. It is praiseworthy to recite the first four lesser hours and Vespers in the morning on the weekdays of Lent; in the afternoon, to recite Vespers and Compline. Whoever foresees an impediment during the rest of the day must anticipate the recitation. The obligation ceases according to the common rules (physical impossibility, grave impediment or inconvenience, more urgent occupations of worship, ministry, or charity, legitimate dispensation).
2. Choral recitation. — The obligation is grave for each Chapter (cathedral or collegiate); for all individual clerics invested with a choral benefice; for all male or female religious houses canonically erected with at least 4 free Religious (not lay brothers or sisters), in institutes where the obligation of choir is in force (cann. 413 ff.; 1472 ff.; 610). By foundation law or apostolic indult, reductions are granted in this regard.
There is a difference between the obligation of canons and beneficiaries and that of Religious; in the former, the obligation is both collegiate and personal, that is, it rests upon the Chapter as such and at the same time upon the individual members, whereas in religious institutes it rests directly upon the community.
1) The obligation is real, insofar as it imposes effective and complete performance in the manner and form prescribed by the Church. It is local, to be fulfilled in the sacred place (church) where the juridical person has its seat; outside it, even if gathered together, the members do not fulfill the obligation; recitation in a place adjoining the church (sacristy, confessional) is probably lawful. It must be daily; in some Chapters, instead of full attendance (the participation of all members not legitimately impeded), attendance by turns is provided, by concession of the Holy See; the greater solemnities are ordinarily excluded. In the religious community, since the obligation does not rest upon individuals, one cannot speak of attendance by turns; but, especially in houses of study, the Superiors may make arrangements in this regard, in accordance with can. 589 § 2; 2) the obligation is grave for the Superior (bishop), who must ensure this daily obligation imposed by canon law, and for individual beneficiaries who are not legitimately exempt, since it is a personal obligation. The gravity of choral office is not to be assessed in the same way as that of private recitation; occasional omission of a canonical hour is not considered grave; for the beneficiary, illegitimate absence for one week is required. In this regard there is the twofold sanction of cann. 1475 and 3381 (non facit fructus mos, possible deprivation of the benefice). For Religious, superiors must oversee fulfillment of the obligation, assuming the presence of at least 4 Religious who are not legitimately impeded; they must not, however, substantially alter the timetable, since the obligation is divisible; thus, when a canonical hour cannot be recited at its proper time, there is no strict obligation concerning II. For individual Religious the obligation is in itself light; it becomes grave in the event of scandal, a superior’s precept, or choral recitation being rendered impossible by their absence; 3) insofar as it is vocal, it must be performed in the prescribed parts (hymns, psalms, etc.) alternately and intelligibly, even if one choir cannot be heard by the other. For canons, recitation ought to be sung; this prescription is interpreted broadly as recitation in a loud, distinct, and intelligible voice; 4) the order indicated in the Breviary and calendar must also be followed (inversion of some canonical hour without proportionate cause is a venial 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 until after the middle of the afternoon (and thus the time varies according to the months); the lesser canonical Hours in the morning, inserting Mass according to the rubrics; on the weekdays of Lent, Vespers is anticipated until before lunch, while during the rest of the year it is said in the afternoon; the same applies to Compline; 5) the causes excusing from choral recitation are: for Chapters, indult and serious public inconvenience; for Religious, deficiency in numbers is added; for individual beneficiaries, vacancies according to can. 418, substitution (can. 419), special assignments for the diocese (can. 420 ff.), and retirement on a pension (can. 422); for individual Religious, dispensation, privilege, and serious inconvenience.
1896, pp. 309-43; P. Mocchegeiani, Iurisprudentia ecclesiastica, II, Quaracchi-Friburgo in Br. 1905, nn. 1-68; III, ivi 1905, nn. 375-445; C. Callewaert, De breviarii romani liturgia, Bruges 1931; A. Coelho, Corso di liturgia romana, IV, Torino-Roma 1937, nn. 444-46; T. Schaefer, De religiosis, 4ª ed., Roma 1947, nn. 1190-1215; H. Leclercq, Breviaire, in DACL, II, coll. 1262-1316; F. Cimitier, Office divin, in DThC, XI, coll. 955-60; J. Brinktrine, Brevier, in LThK, II, coll. 351-57; H. De Mesmecker, De peccato omissionis horarum, in Collectanea Mechinensia, 16 (1946), pp. 276-78; B. Janssens de Bisthoven, De obligatis ad officina tituli ecclesiae, in Collationes Brugenses, 43 (1947), pp. 27-30; S. Brieroa, L'obbligo del coro nelle comunità del Terzi online regolare di S. Francesco, Roma 1949. Sisinio da Romallo
I. HISTORY OF THE LITURGICAL HOURS
1. The Private Hours of the First Three Centuries. – Sacred Scripture shows that the Apostles, in their prayer, followed the times already customary in the synagogue, namely the third hour (Act. 2, 15), the sixth (Act. 10, 9), and the ninth (Act. 3, 1), which are therefore also called the “apostolic hours.” To these, naturally, are added morning and evening prayer. The Didaché (chap. 8) orders the private recitation of the Pater noster three times a day, without specifying the hour precisely; but since the Didaché originated in the Syro-Palestinian region, the Syro-Palestinian practice is likewise presumed for its recitation, namely, the “apostolic hours.” S. Clement of Alexandria (Strom., VII, 7), for Alexandria, and Tertullian (De ieiunio, 10; De orat., 25), for Latin Africa, refer to a twofold group of prayers: the first group, consisting of morning and evening prayer, public at least on the days when the Eucharist and the agape were celebrated; the second group, consisting of the “apostolic hours,” as an act of private devotion. The same is found in s. Cyprian (De dominica oratione, 35-36); he too distinguishes two groups of hours of prayer: the first, those of the day, the “apostolic hours,” associated with reflection on the events mentioned in the Acts and with the idea of commemorating Christ’s Passion; the second, the prayers of morning, evening, and night: Christ is the true light in the Resurrection and the Parousia. The hours of the day and of midnight (also mentioned by Tertullian) derive from private devotion; those of morning and evening, with readings from Sacred Scripture and the singing of psalms, belong to a public service which, if not daily, is replaced by private devotion. Hippolytus, in the Traditio Apostolica (chap. 35), is the first to refer to the division of the day and to the hours of prayer in a certain temporal order: after rising, one washed one’s hands in order to recite morning prayer; one went to church to take part in the scriptural reading and the singing of psalms (the public morning prayer distinct from the Holy Eucharist); if it was not public, it was performed at home; during the day, the “apostolic hours” were not to be omitted. He speaks briefly of evening prayer; night prayer—also an act of private devotion—is twofold: at midnight and at cockcrow (gallicinium; around three o’clock). For the hours of prayer, Christians followed the Greek and Roman division of the day and night, hours publicly announced, as Tertullian indicates (De ieiunio, 10: «quae publice resonant»). The prayers had no fixed or official formularies, except the “Pater”; the prayers and readings were chosen and determined by the one presiding or by private devotion.2. The Formation of the Divine Office of Monks and Convents. – In the fourth century, once ascetic life had been organized in common, the hours of prayer, which until then had been private, also became hours of common prayer. Night prayer in particular came to be preferred and established as a “vigil,” with psalms, readings, and responsories. The Egyptian monks had only Vespers and the night prayer combined with that of dawn in common. The Palestinian and Syrian monks also practiced common daytime prayer, that is, the “apostolic hours.” The Western monks likewise followed this example. During the fifth and sixth centuries, Lauds and Prime were placed before the daytime hours (from Bethlehem, cf. Froger [V. op. cit., in bibl.]); to complete the day, s. Basil and s. Benedict added Compline, the hour of retiring to rest. Thus the hours of prayer received their structure and their number, which still exist today. Their internal structure also derives from the monks. The preferred prayer was the psalter, at first recited continuously, one psalm after another. Their number was left to the discretion of individuals. Hermits and others recited the entire psalter of 150 psalms in a single day. Finally, the psalms came to be distributed over a weekly or fortnightly cycle; they constitute the principal part of the Divine Office. At first, scriptural reading was added to the recitation of the psalms; after a certain number of psalms, one or more readings taken from the two Testaments followed. Since only a few people knew how to read, the reading was performed publicly by one or more readers or singers. The reading was so extensive that it sometimes occupied an entire book. In addition to Sacred Scripture, hagiographic writings were also read: the passions of the martyrs, and the sermons and homilies of the Fathers, distributed among the three vigils. As an echo of the reading, psalms were recited between the individual lessons in responsorial chant. A third constitutive element was prayer “sub silentio,” that is, after the reading or the singing of the psalms, each person prayed silently and on his knees, then stood upright in the attitude of one praying; this was followed by the prayer improvised and 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. S. Benedict introduced into Lauds and Vespers the recitation of the entire Pater aloud, reserved to the abbot or superior. The structure of the hours thus includes all these parts: psalms, reading, and prayers. At first the psalms were sung responsorially (that is, one cantor read the verses, and the others always answered with the same verse), and later in antiphonal chant (the verses were sung with antiphons interspersed). Monastic legislators, such as s. Caesarius, s. Aurelian, and s. Columbanus, and especially s. Benedict, gave the Divine Office a position of pre-eminence. The arrangement of s. Benedict subsequently prevailed over all the 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, reaches the following conclusions: a) the Lucernarium and Lauds are the most ancient hours of prayer. In the Lucernarium, the proper psalms of the Roman rite are replaced by five psalms from the psalter, as is also done at Lauds. The Lucernarium thus becomes “Vespers”; b) in Lauds too, the Divine Office properly so called of the morning is preceded by a psalmody deriving from the monastic practice of the vigil or night prayer. Matins thus consists of two subordinate parts: the nocturnal or prematutinal part, composed of psalms as a preparation for Matins, and the properly matutinal and primitive part. The first part, the nocturnal psalmody, never existed by itself as a pre-existing or autonomous Office, but is merely an amplification of primitive Matins, preceded by the monks’ customary recitation of the psalter, as was done in order to spend the night (wholly or partly) awake and in prayer. This first part never concludes like the other hours, but is immediately followed by Matins properly so called. Both of these “parts” are regarded as a single Matins; it therefore begins before dawn, toward the preceding sunrise.
3. The formation of the U. of the churches. The Roman U. — For the history of the U. of the various churches, the sources are not as clear as those for the monastic U. St. Jerome (Ad Laetam, ep. 107, 9) mentions 6 hours of private prayer: at night, at dawn, the three apostolic hours, and the evening sacrifice. In the churches, besides the Eucharistic service, there existed the euchological service, that is, of prayers, or rather of scriptural readings followed by the singing of responsories. Toward the middle of the 4th century, this euchological service comprised only the public prayers of morning and evening, that is, 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 5th centuries, the hour of nighttime prayer was added: the appointed Vigil, according to the Liber Pontificalis, instituted as early as the time of Pope Damasus (336–84). This Vigil encountered some difficulty among the clergy because it was somewhat burdensome and arduous to have to rise during the night (cf. the oath of the suburbicarian 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 the Emperor Justinian of 528 ordering the clergy not to be inferior to so many of the faithful in participating in the vigils). This vigil seems not to have been psalmic, but rather composed of readings, canticles, and responsories; it also included the morning hour, that is, Lauds, with which the Vigil reached its climax and ended. The minor hours were introduced following the example and under the influence of the monastic oratories of Rome (ad catacumbas, 431–50; St. Peter’s, 450; St. Lawrence’s, 461–68; at 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’s, in addition to the Vigil and Lauds, also to celebrate 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 U. arose the custom, also for them, of the obligation to recite the ecclesiastical hours privately, just as monks were obliged to recite them privately when absent from the monastery.
The archaic Roman or secular U. differs from the monastic one, as Amalarius attests for the 9th century; the monastic one is richer and more extensive than the archaic Roman one. The archaic Roman one lacks the «Deus in adiutorium», the invitatory, hymns, chapters, etc.; whereas the monastic one has 12 psalms and 12 lessons, the Roman one has only 9 psalms and 9 lessons. From the 9th century, Benedictine elements entered the Roman U. (the invitatory, hymns, etc.). At the same time, an abbreviation of the readings began and the «Breviary of the Roman Curia» arose (v. BREVIARIO). The Roman U. was propagated in England in the 7th century by Benedict Biscop, in Gaul by Crodegango of Metz (8th century, after 753) and Remedius of Rouen, especially through the Carolingian liturgical reform; under Gregory VII, it was also introduced into Spain in place of the Mozarabic one (permitted only in a Toledan chapel).
BIBLI: S. Bäumler, Gesch. des Breviers, Freiburg 1895 (French translation, Paris 1905); P. Batifol, Hist. du Bré. Romain, Paris 1911; C. Callewaert, De Brev. Rom. Liturgia, Bruges 1939; id., in Sacris Erudiri, Steenbrugge 1940, pp. 53–168, 194–204; P. Albrigi, Sacra Liturgia, l'Oraz. pubblica, Vicenza 1941; P. Alfonso, I riti della Chiesa, Le Ore canon., Rome 1945; M. Righetti, Man. di storia liturg., II, Milan 1946, pp. 415–602; J. Froger, Les origines de Prime, Rome 1946; E. Dekkers, Tertultonus en de Geschied. der Liturgie, Brussels 1947, pp. 109–126; J. Stadluber, Das Stundengebet des Laien im christl. Altertum, in Zeitschr. für kath. Theol., 71 (1949), pp. 129–83; J. A. Jungmann, Beiträge zur Gesch. der Gebetsliturgie, ibid., 72 (1950), pp. 66–79, 223–26, 226–34; I. H. Dalmais, Origine et Constitution de l'Office, in La Maison-Dieu, 21 (1950), pp. 21–39; P. Salmon, Aux origines du bré. romain. De la répartition de l'Office entre les diverses Eglises urbaines du Ve ou VIIIe siècle, in La Maison-Dieu, 27 (1951), pp. 114–36; J. M. Hanssens, Aux origines de la prière liturgique. Nature et genèse de l'Office des matines (Anal. Gregor., 57), Rome 1952; K. I. Merk, Das Brevier und der Säkularkleros, 2ª ed., Stuttgart-Degerloch 1952.
Pietro Siffrin
II. EASTERN RITES
The Acemetes in Byzantium in the 5th century practiced continuous prayer (cf. J. Pargoire, Acémètes, in DACL, I, cols. 307–21): some monks devoted a particular U. 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 ff.; 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 lengthy U., have not followed these excesses. All have the hour of Matins 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 placed the hour of the night before the hour of Matins, and almost all have added to it the hour of Prime, and to Vespers the hour of sleep, or Compline. Yet other hours are also found in certain rites.1. Enumeration of the hours. — Byzantine Rite: Vespers, Compline, Midnight (a more recent composition), Matins (comprising the equivalent of the three Nocturns and Lauds), Prime, Terce, Sext, None. In addition, during Lent: a “mesoria” of the hours of Prime, Terce, Sext, and None, and the typika, which take the place of the divine liturgy on aliturgical days. — Armenian Rite: Vespers, Peaceful Hour, Compline, the night office (equivalent to the Nocturn), Matins (equivalent to Lauds, but greatly expanded), at sunrise, Terce, Sext, None. — West Syriac Rite: Vespers, Compline, the night office (comprising the equivalent of the three Nocturns and Lauds), Matins (partly repeating Lauds and adding other material), Terce, Sext, None. — Maronite Rite: like the West Syriac rite, but the night office does not contain Lauds. — Chaldean Rite: Vespers, Compline (not always, and, when celebrated, added to Vespers), the night office, Matins (equivalent to Lauds); the hours of Terce, Sext, and None only among the Catholic monks, who took them from the Maronites. — Coptic and Ethiopian Rite: Vespers, the hour of sleep, Midnight (comprising the equivalent of three Nocturns and, furthermore, 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, either as the recitation of the cursus of the Psalter distributed among the hours of Vespers, the night, and the morning, or as the recitation of certain psalms chosen for the various hours and therefore intimately connected with each of them. The biblical canticles are joined to the psalms in greater or lesser number. The reading of Sacred Scripture does not always take place, although a Gospel is read in the Sunday U.; among the Copts, however, a Gospel is read every day at every hour. Poetic compositions of very diverse kinds are extremely numerous in all the Eastern rites (v. INNOGRARIA). The reading of homilies by the Fathers, on the other hand, is found only in the West Syriac rite, and not always; in the Byzantine rite it sometimes fills the time between one hour and another. In addition, salutations, acclamations, litanies, and prayers are never lacking. Among the liturgical actions, the most important is incensation, especially at Vespers; but in certain cases processions also occur, as does the blessing of bread and oil before the night office.
3. Obligation. — Among the dissidents, the obligation of the U. d. falls upon the community, not upon the individual as such; and since parish priests are married, their work for the family would leave them no time for lengthy prayers. Nevertheless, the monk traveling or shut up in his cell, like every devout priest, considers it his duty, if he does not participate in common prayer, to recite privately part of the U. d. or other prayers that often imitate the hours of the U. d. In some communities, lay people too have the custom of reciting the U. d., or a substitute for it, in church or at home with their families. N. Milasch writes, however, in a different sense (Das Kirchenrecht in der morgenländ. Kirche, Mostar 1905, p. 285).
Among Catholics, the legislation is not uniform, nor is the obligation always clear. The recitation of the U. d. requires many books, which private individuals rarely possess in their entirety; when recited in full, it requires many hours; norms issued by the authorities for abbreviating it are often lacking, or the U. d. is reduced to the sole, unvarying, monotonous recitation of the Ordinarum Officii; moreover, the recitation of the U. d. as a strictly individual obligation is not part of the tradition of the East. It is, however, customary as a preparation for the celebration of Holy Mass. Various attempts to abbreviate the Byzantine U. d. were made in the past (cf. C. Korolevskii, 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 strongly urged to recite daily Matins, the Hours, Vespers, and Compline (cf. Costituzioni del Sinodo intereparchiale [1940], Grottaferrata 1943, p. 21).
b) Ruthenians: Priests should not arbitrarily omit 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 U. d. according to the scheme drawn up by that same Synod.
c) Melkites: various synodal decisions and monastic rules indicate, 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 lack of directives for an abbreviation, and the practice of good priests further increase the doubt concerning the existence of a strict obligation of conscience.
d) Romanians: the obligation seems to concern only the 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 romana, Rome 1944).
e) Armenians: an obligation very similar to that existing among the Latins is in force, according to an abbreviated scheme drawn up by the Synod (cf. Acta et Decreta Concilii nationalis Armenorum Romae habiti an. 1921, Rome 1913, no. 740).
f) Syrians and Maronites: from the diaconate onward, there is an obligation to recite the U. d. every day, in choir or privately; it is not explicitly stated to be sub gravi (cf. Synodus Sciarfensis... an. 1888, Rome 1896, p. 198; for the Lebanese Synod of 1736, Mansi, XXXVIII, cols. 140 and 157).
g) Malankarese: the bishops have imposed an obligation, not more precisely determined, to recite the U. d., indicating how it is to be done (cf. Placidus a S. Josepho, De Fontibus iuris eccles. syro-malankarensis [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) imposed the obligation sub gravi of reciting the Psalter until the abbreviated U. d. should be 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 the Latins (cf. Mansi, t. XXXV, 1280); but at that time printed books were lacking and the Synod has no force; today the obligation is in force on the basis of custom.
l) Copts: the obligation in force for the clergy is understood to include the private recitation of the U. d., but 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; but the reading of the Psalter is widespread even among the laity.
BIBLI: V. liturgical books. Necessarily partial translations: J. B. Mainewright, The Byzantine Offices Londra 1909 (gives the entire U. with the Ordinary for the feast of ss. Pietro e Paolo); E. Mercenier - F. Paris, La Prière des Églises, de rite byzantin, II, Amay 1937; A. Maltzow, Die Nachtwache, Berlino 1892; Breviarium Armenum, Venezia 1908 (the Ordinary in Latin); F. C. Conybeare, Rituale Armenorum, Oxford 1905 (English version of the Ordinary and precious historical notes); A. J. Maclean, East Syrian Daily Offices, Londra 1894 (English version of the Ordinary of the festive and ferial U.); J. P. P. Martin, St Pierre et St Paul dans l'Église nestorienne, Parigi 1875 (gives the entire U. for the feast of these Saints, in French); John Marquis of Bute, The Coptic Morning service, Londra 1908 (English version of the Ordinary of all the hours); B. Turkev, Časovou etiopskoi Tserkovi, Pietroburgo 1897 (Russian version of the Ordinary of all the hours, with variants). On the obligation, the general discussion concerning the Romans in Mansi, XLVI, cols. 866–906; P. Hofmeister, Die Breviervorpflichtung der oriental. Geistlichen, in Ostkirchliche Studien, 1 (1952), pp. 249–63. Alfonso Raes