A few months ago, I wrote about my experience of falling into complacency over the 2021 summer break. Upon leaving the Catholic communities at BC for the summer, I had to be more intentional about cultivating my faith, as making the effort to drive to daily Mass at home required more discipline than walking three minutes from Roncalli Hall to St. Joseph Chapel. Needless to say, I got lazy and did not muster the necessary discipline to do so.
Returning home for winter break in December, I knew I would have to face the same challenge. As a way to combat the discipline problem from the summer, and as a way to pray along with the liturgical calendar even if I miss Mass on a particular weekday, I decided to start praying the Liturgy of the Hours, also called the Divine Office. I resolved to pray Morning Prayer, the Office of Readings, at least one of either Midmorning, Midday, or Midafternoon Prayer, then Evening Prayer and Night Prayer each day. I had tried to do similarly a few months prior, but that pursuit only lasted a few days. I figured that this time, since I did not have classes, it would be easier to establish the habit.
I can now confirm this effort bore fruit, as I have been successful in praying the Divine Office daily from December 28—the Feast of the Holy Innocents—through today, aside from maybe two missed Night Prayers in that span. But this alone is not evidence of fruitful prayer—it would mean nothing if I were simply reciting words instead of truly praying with the Office.
I have found that the Divine Office provides a rather effective way to receive as full an understanding of praying the Psalms as one can. Praising the Lord in the morning, meditating on God’s laws and precepts in the midst of the weekday struggle, giving thanks in the evening, and beseeching God for his assistance and forgiveness before bed, the character of each Psalm fits especially the needs particularly relevant to the time of day.
The Divine Office also has helped me approach St. Paul’s exhortation to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). I had this in mind even as I started that failed attempt in the fall, interestingly enough inspired by the Islamic proscription to pray five times daily. Studying Islam in Peter Kreeft’s Philosophy of World Religions class, I read about the Muslim story of Muhammad bargaining with God to require prayer five times daily, as it would be too much to ask man to literally pray without ceasing. I immediately connected this to the Church, knowing that we already had an official, daily prayer broken into five hours (or seven if considering the Daytime Prayers of Midmorning, Midday, and Midafternoon Prayers separately) in the Office. From my experience so far, I can confirm that I am aware of God’s presence more often during the day than I was before starting to pray the Office.
While the Divine Office is only mandatory for priests and religious, I highly recommend anyone looking to increase their awareness of God’s presence throughout the day to consider praying the Hours, even if just a handful each day. A good way to start is with the major Hours of Lauds and Vespers—Morning and Evening Prayer, respectively—and work in other hours as they become ingrained in habit. Compline—Night Prayer—is also a very approachable prayer to pray, as it takes about five minutes right before sleeping. As well as approachable, it is fruitful, as it offers an opportunity to examine your conscience to evaluate how well you performed God’s will throughout the day, as well as an opportunity to ask for God’s protection through the night and into the next day. While being the longest Hour to pray, the Office of Readings is a great way to expand your knowledge of Scripture and the lives of the saints, as it offers scriptural commentary from Church Fathers and saints, and on feast days, commentaries on that particular saint’s life. The readings in the Office of Readings also break a longer biblical passage across multiple days, which helps contextualize Scripture passages.
As one who often is lost for words, God, through the Church, helps provide me with words with which to pray through the Divine Office. As said in Midday Prayer on the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time: “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought” (Rom. 8:26).
Adam is a senior from Columbus, Ohio. He previously served as Campus News and Culture Editor, and boasts the title of least cultured to ever serve as the latter. Holding a minor in Biology, he recently converted from STEM and now majors in Philosophy and Classical Studies. He currently leads Una Voce, the Latin Mass society at BC, and sings with the University Chorale of Boston College and the Chorale Chamber Singers. He enjoys Gregorian Chant, relearning the clarinet, and is an unabashed Ohio apologist.
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