Understanding the Terms Office and Hour
The Liturgy of the Hours is sometimes referred to as the Divine Office. These days, when we hear the term office we tend to think of a room with a desk, phone, computer, etc. for doing work. But, as you may suspect, that is really not what is being conveyed in the Divine Office. According TheFreeDictionary.com, the definition of office in an ecclesiastical context is, A ceremony, rite, or service, usually prescribed by liturgy. Moreover, the term stems from the use of the term office to convey a special duty or obligation (for example, the second definition from TheFreeDictionary.com defines office as, A duty or function assigned to or assumed by someone).
St. Paul says to pray constantly (1Thess 5:17, RSV) and therefore Christians have a duty (or office) to do just that. Over the ages, many devotional practices have developed to assist Christians in praying constantly, with the Liturgy of the Hours being one. This Christian concept of the Liturgy of the Hours grew out of a Jewish devotional practice of stopping to pray at certain hours throughout each day. Consider what is recounted in Psalm 119:164, Seven times a day I praise you for thy righteous ordinances (RSV, note that certain editions of the Bible designate this as Psalm 118).
Opinion is divided among Jewish scholars as to how ancient this practice is in Judaism, but it clearly was particularly popular during the time of the Babylonian exile. Because the temple had been destroyed, and most Jews were exiled to places outside of the Holy Land, the Jews used Scripture-based devotions as a substitute for temple sacrifices. The idea was to offer prayers and the reciting of Scripture passages as a sacrifice of praise to God. This practice became so well-established that the Jews continued to do it even when the temple was restored.
Punctuating the day with prayer and the recitation of Scripture carried over from Judaism to Christianity. Indeed, this is what is being described in the following passage from the Book of Acts: Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (Acts 3:1, RSV). Gradually over a long span of time, the Church developed what came to be known as the Liturgy of the Hours. The term liturgy means a prescribed form or set of forms for public religious worship (TheFreeDictionary.com), and therefore the Liturgy of the Hours is the collection of liturgies that one prays at the various hours designated for prayer throughout the day. Going back to what I said above about the term office, it became customary to refer to such liturgies as offices.
(See the next two posts for the traditional and current names for the offices and hours recognized in the Catholic Church)
The Liturgy of the Hours is sometimes referred to as the Divine Office. These days, when we hear the term office we tend to think of a room with a desk, phone, computer, etc. for doing work. But, as you may suspect, that is really not what is being conveyed in the Divine Office. According TheFreeDictionary.com, the definition of office in an ecclesiastical context is, A ceremony, rite, or service, usually prescribed by liturgy. Moreover, the term stems from the use of the term office to convey a special duty or obligation (for example, the second definition from TheFreeDictionary.com defines office as, A duty or function assigned to or assumed by someone).
St. Paul says to pray constantly (1Thess 5:17, RSV) and therefore Christians have a duty (or office) to do just that. Over the ages, many devotional practices have developed to assist Christians in praying constantly, with the Liturgy of the Hours being one. This Christian concept of the Liturgy of the Hours grew out of a Jewish devotional practice of stopping to pray at certain hours throughout each day. Consider what is recounted in Psalm 119:164, Seven times a day I praise you for thy righteous ordinances (RSV, note that certain editions of the Bible designate this as Psalm 118).
Opinion is divided among Jewish scholars as to how ancient this practice is in Judaism, but it clearly was particularly popular during the time of the Babylonian exile. Because the temple had been destroyed, and most Jews were exiled to places outside of the Holy Land, the Jews used Scripture-based devotions as a substitute for temple sacrifices. The idea was to offer prayers and the reciting of Scripture passages as a sacrifice of praise to God. This practice became so well-established that the Jews continued to do it even when the temple was restored.
Punctuating the day with prayer and the recitation of Scripture carried over from Judaism to Christianity. Indeed, this is what is being described in the following passage from the Book of Acts: Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (Acts 3:1, RSV). Gradually over a long span of time, the Church developed what came to be known as the Liturgy of the Hours. The term liturgy means a prescribed form or set of forms for public religious worship (TheFreeDictionary.com), and therefore the Liturgy of the Hours is the collection of liturgies that one prays at the various hours designated for prayer throughout the day. Going back to what I said above about the term office, it became customary to refer to such liturgies as offices.
(See the next two posts for the traditional and current names for the offices and hours recognized in the Catholic Church)