One of the "sleepers" of Vatican II’s, "Document on the Liturgy" (Sacrosanctum Concilium) was the call to reform the Liturgy of the Hours and to restore it the laity so it could become again what it is called---the Prayer of the Church. In the early centuries of the church, this beautiful prayer of praise had been the public prayer of the whole people of God. As time went on however, several factors led to the loss of this prayer for the laity. The use of Latin as the liturgical language and the increasing influence of monastic styles of prayer eventually led to the situation we knew just prior to Vatican II. The Prayer of the Church had become in fact the prayer of priests and nuns.

On one hand we must be grateful to the monasteries, convents and seminaries for preserving this jewel for us through the centuries. But the time has come for us to seriously attempt to implement this call of Vatican II to return this prayer to all God’s people. While it is true that many groups are using Morning and Evening Prayer for their gatherings, and that some parishes are trying to use this form of prayer for Lent and Advent, by and large, the "people in the pews" are not familiar with this prayer. In fact, many have not even heard of it.

The Roman Breviary is still a 4 volume set of books and it is definitely a monastic format of prayer. It is not conducive to the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours at the parish level. However, in Canada we now have three excellent tools which give us a better opportunity to restore morning and evening prayer to the local community.

These liturgical books are:

1. CBWIII;
2. The Order of Christian Funerals and
3. Sunday Celebration of the Word and Hours.

In parishes which have fostered the Liturgy of the Hours, people speak of the simple beauty of the gestures (water, incense), and the calm atmosphere of praise and intercession. People are slowly coming to know the psalm and canticles which are always used, and participation is improving. It is also proving to be a form of prayer which lends itself easily to ecumenical gatherings, since Christians of all denominations can fully participate.

The liturgical book,"Sunday Celebration of the Word and Hours" (available for purchase at the Pastoral Center) is a marvelous resource. Together with CBWIII, this is all a parish would need to implement Morning and Evening Prayer in the parish. There would be no need for running off sheets of prayer. The format is clear. Morning Prayer would always include Ps.63 and the assembly could be sprinkled with water as the psalm is sung. For Evening Prayer, a procession (in silence) with incense and a candle leads into a hymn of light and then Ps.141 (My prayers rise like incense etc.).

As the community becomes familiar with the basic structure, you can add another psalm or change the canticle of praise or the opening hymn according to the liturgical season. People can be trained as lectors, cantors, thurifers and presiders. It is official liturgy, but it does not require an ordained presider. Do not be discouraged if the numbers are small at the beginning . It took centuries for this prayer to disappear from the parish; it will take longer than one year to restore it.

I constantly refer to this prayer as liturgy, for so it is. This is an important point. As Christians, we are called to many forms of prayer. In our private lives, we all have preferred forms of prayer and this is good—devotions, novenas, the rosary, the stations etc. These form a treasury of prayers and the church rightly commends them to us to foster a spirit of piety. However, in all its documents, the church insists that these devotional practices must feed our liturgical life—not substitute for it. Liturgical prayer always has pre-eminence over any other form of prayer. The reason for this is basic. In devotional prayer it is ME who prays (or WE who pray if in a group). But in liturgical prayer, it is CHRIST who prays and who incorporates us into His prayer and self-offering. It is Christ, the whole Christ (Head and Body) who prays. Just as in the Eucharist, it is Christ who offers Himself in the sacrifice to the Father in the Spirit, so in the Liturgy of the Hours, it is Christ who draws us into this sacrifice of praise. It is not devotional; it is true liturgy.

This is significant in our situation today, when the growing shortage of priests means that many communities can no longer have daily mass. Regular liturgical celebrations of morning and evening prayer could mark a tremendous liturgical recovery in the life of any parish. But in communities deprived of daily mass (or even Sunday mass), the liturgy of the Hours could become our liturgical life’s blood.

We, at the Office of Worship, are available to any parish which would like help to begin the practice of the Prayer of the Church. Please feel free to contact us.

Robert Taft, a Jesuit scholar and liturgist, in his book "The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West" (Collegeville, Liturgical Press, 1986, pp 370-371) puts it this way: "When we rise in the morning and come together to sing the praises of God at the dawn of the new day, when we celebrate at the coming of darkness our faith in the true light of the world at evensong, when we keep vigil with the angels and the heavenly bodies of the firmament while the world sleeps, we are doing, in obedience to the command to pray always, what men and women have done since the time of Jesus. In every time, in every land and from every race: in the privacy of the home, in the desert or cave, in peasant hut and hermit cell, in Gothic choir or country chapel, in concentration camp or jungle mission station; at every hour around the clock someone raised his or her voice in the prayer of the church, to join with the heavenly and earthly choirs down through the ages in the glorification of almighty God."

Perhaps it’s time our parish joined these choirs.

Fr. Bill Burke

Further to the discussion about the restoration of the Liturgy of the Hours at the parish level, I would suggest you might want to try the format of Evening Prayer as a context for the Lenten service of reconciliation. I have done this for the last two years and it works very well.

This has several advantages. If the parish is familiar with Evening Prayer, then their participation is more likely. It will also highlight the corporate and communal nature of the sacrament. It will also help encourage the implementation of the Liturgy of the Hours at other times of the year. This in turn will provide a stable format for the annual penitential services. As the ritual gestures of light/darkness and incense offering for the forgiveness of sin become familiar through regular usage, we can all be freer to enter more deeply into the movement of the prayer.

This is the format I used for the service last year:

1. Procession with candle and incense (in silence, church dimly lit)
2. Proclamation of Light CBW III, no. 14 A
3. Evening Thanksgiving ( this is in the form of a preface- the text can be found in the choir edition of CBW III- not the pew edition.It can be sung or recited as any preface, but it is more effective when sung by a cantor).
4. Hymn-----CBW III no. 582
5. Ps. 141 CBWIII no. 14 H (other settings—CBWIII nos. 670,671.672 or 673).
6. Prayer ( presider)
7. Scripture Reading ( I used Romans 5:1-11; the canticle of Mary is in fact the proclamation of the Gospel in Evening Prayer.)
8. Homily
9. Examination of Life ( I have attached one—I did not use all of them, I reduced it to about one page. This was done in litany form with 2 lectors alternately reading the first part and the assembly responding "Forgive Us Lord"
10. Opportunity for individual confessions
11. Canticle of Mary—CBWIII 14I (there are other settings of the magnificat—use one your people know e.g. CBW III nos. 674-678
12. Intercessions (there are intercessions in the choir edition of CBW III no.14 J and 14 k)
13. Lord’s Prayer
14. Blessing
15. Sign of Peace

EXAMINATION OF LIFE
GROUP EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

Response:FORGIVE US, LORD.

For the times I have forgotten you and turned my back on you, Lord……

For the times I have failed to praise You and recognize Your greatness in creation…..

For the times I have failed to love You with all my heart….

For the times I have idolized myself instead of worshipping You…

For making things, money, or people more important than You….

For not making time to try to understand Scriptures better….

For not accepting Church tradition and Church authority….

For not loving the Church while I criticize her….

For not growing in hope in the midst of a despairing world….

For presuming so often on Your mercy while ignoring Your justice….

For picking and choosing only the convenient parts of Your message….

For closing my heart to the guidance of Your Spirit….

For the times I have been ashamed to show my religious convictions….

For being ignorant and uninformed in my religion because of laziness or lack of interest….

For believing in superstition and astrology….

For the times I have cursed in anger or frustration….

For using Your name in vain, Lord….

For times I have used Your name lightly, without respect….

For the times I have hurt You and others with foul language….

For my unwillingness to dedicate time to pray….

For praying mechanically and without conviction….

For all the times I was not mentally present at Mass….

For the times I have not taken part in the Eucharist because of laziness….

For making excuses to myself claiming that other things are more important then going to Mass….

For lack of respect for the Sacraments, especially Penance and Eucharist….

For not trying to understand my parents….

For disobeying my parents….

For disrespecting them….

For not showing love toward my parents and for taking them for granted….

For being negligent and sluggish in fulfilling my duties as a student and family member….

For my moments of impatience at home….

For being uncharitable toward my brothers and sisters….

For the times that I have not been grateful toward those who have helped me grow….

For all the times I have wished evil upon someone….

For putting people on my "black list", giving them the cold shoulder, and not forgiving them….

For the moments that I have hurt others’ feelings with my words or actions….

For the times I have refused to help those in need….

For feeling sorry for myself….

For refusing to forgive myself and others….

For not challenging myself and being lazy at home or work….

For the gifts and talents I have failed to cultivate….

For looking at pornography and engaging in immoral conversations….

For flirting too much at school or work….

For being unfaithful to those who love me….

For failing to avoid situations that lead to sexual involvement….

For having neglected my human dignity and that of others….

For the times I have misused the gift of my sexuality by myself or with others….

For the times I have cheated….

For the times I have stolen….

For being careless about others and abusing their property….

For wasting Your gifts of food and natural resources….

For the times I have been jealous of others’ looks, friends or possessions….

For forgetting the poor….

For not trying to become more competent with my gifts and talents….

For the greed that makes me want so many useless things….

For the times I have spread rumors and gossiped….

For ridiculing others in front to them or behind their back….

For lying….

For playing games with the truth in order to be accepted….

For not standing up for my beliefs in order to be accepted….

For hypocrisy in my words and actions….

For the times I have been too proud to admit I was wrong….

For the times I have been prejudiced….

For the times I have judged people….

For taking advantage of others, using them for my own good….

For not keeping my promises….

For the times I have been sarcastic at the expense of others….

For the times I was unjust toward my neighbors….

For having revealed secret things about others….

For the times I have been the cause of ill-feelings between others….

For the times I have hurt others’ feelings on purpose or through neglect….

For the lack of trust and confidence in myself…

For failing to see You in myself and in others, especially those I do not like…….