Divine Office

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Office, Divine. The daily public worship of the Church, also called in the RC Church, the ‘Liturgy of the Hours’. Its recitation at stated times differentiates it from other liturgical services.

The practice of saying prayers at fixed times was general among the Jews, and was doubtless taken over by the early Christians. From the first it seems that parts of the Psalter were used in Christian prayer. The early monks (‘Desert Fathers’) used long sections of the Psalter, different groups of monks sometimes taking over from one another. This practice influenced the organization of the Office by St Basil in the E. and Cassian in the W. The monastic Offices of the hours of the night and day came into existence, namely Mattins and Lauds, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. Prime apparently originated near Bethlehem and was adopted by Cassian. In cathedrals and non-monastic churches there was a simpler pattern of morning and evening prayer. From the 5th cent. the great basilicas of Rome were served by monastic communities; these added to morning and evening prayer both the other Day Hours and the Night Office or Vigils. By the 8th cent. the cycle of Day Hours and Mattins had become the general pattern for all clergy, secular and monastic. The Papal Curia developed a shorter Office. Because of the prestige of the Curia, by the 12th cent. this was regarded as the Office of the Roman Church. St Francis of Assisi adopted it for his friars and its use spread throughout Europe.

In principle the whole Psalter was to be recited each week, and the readings were to include most of the Bible, but the proliferation of saints' days and other factors meant that by the end of the Middle Ages the Office was in confusion. In 1568 Pius V issued a new Breviary, which was shortened and simplified by Pius X in 1911. A complete reordering of the Office was achieved in the Liturgy of the Hours issued by Paul VI in 1971. This provides for an Office of Readings (q.v.), Lauds, a midday Office (see TERCE, SEXT, NONE), Vespers, and Compline, now to be said before retiring. Besides the Bible, there are readings from the Fathers and later writers. All RC priests and deacons aspiring to the priesthood, and all religious whose rule requires it, are bound to the daily recitation of the Office. Some religious orders have their own Offices, and some are also bound to recite a Night Office. See MONASTIC BREVIARY.

In the C of E at the Reformation the traditional Offices were combined into Morning and Evening Prayer (Mattins and Evensong). In parts of the Anglican Communion there has been some modern restructuring of the Office, e.g. provision for Noonday Prayer in the American BCP (1979).

Office, Divine (Lat., Officium Divinum). The daily prayers prescribed in liturgical churches in Christianity.

In the W., the arrangement of the monastic office goes back to St Benedict, who named it the ‘work of God’ (opus Dei): in his Rule the offices comprise the ‘day hours’ (lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers, and compline) and the ‘night office’ (mattins); the whole Psalter was recited each week. In the Middle Ages this office became obligatory for secular clergy as well.

In the E., there is a similar sequence of hours to that of the W., of which the most familiar is Orthros (lauds). The whole office is of great length, and is abbreviated by all except monks in choir.

Divine Office. The Canonical Hours of the RC Church (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline: these are daily said by all the clergy and in cath. and monastic churches are daily said or sung). Also Matins and Evensong in the Church of England.