or Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
“Seven times a day I praise you.” – Psalm 118(119):164
The Lord has commanded us to pray without ceasing, and this is what the Hours help us do.
Morning Prayer – at the start of the day's work and the coming of the light.
Daytime Prayer – at mid-morning, noon and in the afternoon, to unite us with the one for whom and through whom we are working.
Evening Prayer – at the end of the day's work, to offer up what we have done.
Night Prayer – last thing at night, to commend our souls to God.
And finally, there is the magnificent Office of Readings, at whatever time of day is best for us to reflect on the mystery of salvation, with the help of Scripture and the writings of the Fathers of the Church.
“The purpose of the Divine Office is to sanctify the day and all human activity.” – Apostolic Constitution, Canticum Laudis.
The Liturgy of the Hours is the richest single prayer resource of the Christian Church, with prayers, psalms and readings for each of the Hours, changing each day and through the seasons.
But such riches come at a price. With more than a thousand different Hours every year, the books are thick and using them is complex. So complex that it is rare to find anyone reciting the Hours apart from the clergy and religious. Which is not as it should be. This treasure is too marvellous to be the exclusive possession of our servants:
“The Office is... the prayer not only of the clergy but of the whole People of God.” – Apostolic Constitution, Canticum Laudis.
Follow the links on this page. There is one link for each Hour. They'll be on the left if your screen is wide, or at the top of page if it's narrow.
Bookmark them and they will always be within reach.
As well as the Liturgy of the Hours, the readings at Mass are available. So is the Order of Mass.
Instead of using the web site, you can use a Universalis app on your iPhone / iPad, iPod Touch, Amazon Fire, or Android device, and also on Windows and the Mac. Here are the advantages:
Follow the links for more information, purchase information, and details of free trials.
Amazon Fire / Kindle Fire / Android
If you have a Nook or a Kindle or another e-book reader, they can't use apps. But you can still get Universalis e-books, which are almost as good as an app. A Universalis e-book covers a fixed period (a month, a half-year, or a year) and has one chapter for each Hour in each day.
If you like, our servers can send you your chosen Hours every day, either all at once or in separate emails.
If you want just the liturgical calendar, with notes on the saints and feasts, every one of the Universalis apps and programs has a free version that gives you just that.
If you read blogs with a feed reader, you can get some Universalis content in the same way. Read about it here.
We’re now providing a Twitter feed of the saint of the day. The feed is called @CatholicFeasts and it posts once a day. Here is some more information.
Our Facebook page also posts the saint of each day. If you Like it, you will see the saint of day in your news feed.
If you have your own web site, you can incorporate a Universalis banner to show the saint or feast of the day. There are other free services for webmasters as well. Read about them here.
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