Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office)
The Church's daily cycle of public prayer, built on the psalms, sung at set hours — Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and the rest — by clergy, religious and any of the faithful who join in.
Jesus told his disciples to pray always, and the Church answers with a prayer that sanctifies the whole day: Lauds at morning, Vespers at evening, Compline before sleep, and the Office of Readings and daytime hours between. Its heart is the psalms, all of them prayed over a cycle of weeks, with readings, hymns and intercessions. Priests are obliged to it, and many religious pray it according to their proper law; the Catechism says it is meant to become the prayer of the whole people of God, and Vatican II encouraged the laity to pray it, especially Evening Prayer. “Breviary” is the old name for the book that contains it.
Councils
Where the Church settled or debated this. Follow a council to read our article on it, or the decrees themselves.
- 1962–1965Second Vatican Councilthe decrees
Sources checked 29 September 2026