5/30/2023 0 Comments Praying the divine officeThe Divine Office and Popular Participation: Unrealized Hopes Let us be convinced, then, that after the holy Sacrifice of the Mass the Church possesses no source, no treasure, so abundant as the Office, from which we may draw such daily streams of grace. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi says that, in comparison with the divine Office, all other prayers and devotions are but of little merit and efficacy with God. Many private prayers do not equal in value only one prayer of the divine Office, as being offered to God in the name of the whole Church and in his own appointed words. This fact alone makes the Office more worthy and more powerful than any prayer anyone could ever offer, short of the Mass. This contrasts it with any other form of private prayer and devotion encouraged by the Church-the Rosary, the Jesus Prayer, novenas, litanies, akathists, chaplets, or anything else. This is so whether prayed by Pope, priest, or peasant. Nature of Prayer: Whether prayed in the full splendor of a magnificent cathedral, the austere chancel of a monastery, or in a living room or backyard, alone or with family or friends, the Office is public liturgical prayer by its nature.But in the context of different traditions and for a myriad pastoral reasons, this has varied greatly in practice. Structure: The “hours” (named so because of their generally fixed times, not because it takes an hour to pray them) follow each other at three-hour intervals, at least in theory.Content: Based primarily on the Psalms of David and select Canticles from the Old and New Testaments, and enriched over the centuries with the prayers and hymns of the Church.Goal: To sanctify each period of the day with divine praises based on the Word of God.Nonetheless, these forms have always shared some key common features: It has taken countless forms over the many centuries, in both East and West. The Office as the collective, public prayer of the people of God developed very early on and, as its focus on the Psalms shows, has roots in ancient Judaism before the advent of Christianity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |