Why the SAINT GABRIEL HOURS Blog?
DIVINE OFFICE / LITURGY OF THE HOURS
is the Prayer of Christ and the Church
"Christ Jesus, high priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven. He joins the entire community of mankind to Himself, associating it with His own singing of this canticle of divine praise." (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #86)
"For he continues His priestly work through the agency of His Church, which is ceaselessly engaged in praising the Lord and interceding for the salvation of the whole world. She does this, not only by celebrating the Eucharist, but also in other ways, especially by praying the Divine Office." (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #86)
"Lauds as Morning Prayer and Vespers as Evening Prayer are the two hinges on which the daily office turns; hence they are to be considered as the chief hours and are to be celebrated as such." (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #89)
"Pastors of souls should see to it that the chief hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and the more solemn feasts. And the laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually. (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #100)
"Prayer, however, as a fundamental dimension of our humanity, is worth rediscovering in its true form. The Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium took this need seriously. This greatly pleased Pope Saint Paul VI, who, on promulgating this first document approved by the Second Vatican Council, stated: 'God comes first; prayer is our primary duty; the liturgy is the primary source of the divine life communicated to us, the primary school of our spiritual life' (Address, Saint Peter’s Basilica, 4 December 1963).
Indeed, in the Constitution, the term “prayer” designates the liturgy as a whole. This perspective is decisive, for it guided the liturgical reform, making the active participation of the faithful its central pillar...
For this reason, Saint Paul VI ardently desired that the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church’s daily public prayer, inseparable from the Eucharist, might deeply permeate, enliven, guide and express all Christian prayer, and effectively nourish the spiritual life of the People of God (cf. Apostolic Constitution Laudis canticum).
For this desire to be fulfilled, the Liturgy of the Hours needs to be more fully embraced and lived out in the daily lives of the baptized and of the communities. To the many people who wish to learn to pray, especially catechumens, it can offer the path and the school of Christian prayer." (General Audience of Pope Leo on Constitution on the Liturgy, August 5, 2026)
https://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/files/assets/a-flourishing-apostolic-church-web-version.pdf
In his pastoral letter, Bishop Malesic asks all Catholics to do five things: 1 to read the pastoral letters as addressed personally to them, underline and make notes, and discuss the letter with others, 2 improve their relationship with God by at least fifteen minutes of quality prayer a day, 3) join or develop a spiritual support network, 4) to share the story of their spiritual journey with others, and 5) to become very specific about their mission in life rather than generalities like being a good Christian or a good parent.
"It is true that we live in an age saturated by screens and information, and that a majorityof young people spend a great deal of time on the internet and social media. We must ask ourselves, are our parishes present online? Are we reaching out to our parishioners and potential parishioners online with the Gospel message? (Pastoral Letter p.17"
My personal mission in life is to provide virtual resources for prayer by means of the SAINT GABRIEL HOURS blog and virtual cultural and religious resource for small spiritual networks by means of this LAKE COUNTY OHIO WEAL blog. Bishop Malesic affirms that we each have the ability to decide for ourselves the best way to pray and develop the best spiritual support network. These blogs are aimed at self-starters. They are specially aimed at persons who have the time, either because they are retired or about to retire and want to deepen their prayer life and develop a support network to serve others.
"Christ Jesus, high priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven. He joins the entire community of mankind to Himself, associating it with His own singing of this canticle of divine praise." (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #86)
"For he continues His priestly work through the agency of His Church, which is ceaselessly engaged in praising the Lord and interceding for the salvation of the whole world. She does this, not only by celebrating the Eucharist, but also in other ways, especially by praying the Divine Office." (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #86)
"Lauds as Morning Prayer and Vespers as Evening Prayer are the two hinges on which the daily office turns; hence they are to be considered as the chief hours and are to be celebrated as such." (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #89)
"Lauds as Morning Prayer and Vespers as Evening Prayer are the two hinges on which the daily office turns; hence they are to be considered as the chief hours and are to be celebrated as such." (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #89)
"Pastors of souls should see to it that the chief hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and the more solemn feasts. And the laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually. (Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, #100)
"Prayer, however, as a fundamental dimension of our humanity, is worth rediscovering in its true form. The Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium took this need seriously. This greatly pleased Pope Saint Paul VI, who, on promulgating this first document approved by the Second Vatican Council, stated: 'God comes first; prayer is our primary duty; the liturgy is the primary source of the divine life communicated to us, the primary school of our spiritual life' (Address, Saint Peter’s Basilica, 4 December 1963).
Indeed, in the Constitution, the term “prayer” designates the liturgy as a whole. This perspective is decisive, for it guided the liturgical reform, making the active participation of the faithful its central pillar...
For this reason, Saint Paul VI ardently desired that the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church’s daily public prayer, inseparable from the Eucharist, might deeply permeate, enliven, guide and express all Christian prayer, and effectively nourish the spiritual life of the People of God (cf. Apostolic Constitution Laudis canticum).
For this desire to be fulfilled, the Liturgy of the Hours needs to be more fully embraced and lived out in the daily lives of the baptized and of the communities. To the many people who wish to learn to pray, especially catechumens, it can offer the path and the school of Christian prayer." (General Audience of Pope Leo on Constitution on the Liturgy, August 5, 2026)
https://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/files/assets/a-flourishing-apostolic-church-web-version.pdf
In his pastoral letter, Bishop Malesic asks all Catholics to do five things: 1 to read the pastoral letters as addressed personally to them, underline and make notes, and discuss the letter with others, 2 improve their relationship with God by at least fifteen minutes of quality prayer a day, 3) join or develop a spiritual support network, 4) to share the story of their spiritual journey with others, and 5) to become very specific about their mission in life rather than generalities like being a good Christian or a good parent.
"It is true that we live in an age saturated by screens and information, and that a majority
of young people spend a great deal of time on the internet and social media. We must ask
ourselves, are our parishes present online? Are we reaching out to our parishioners and potential parishioners online with the Gospel message? (Pastoral Letter p.17"
My personal mission in life is to provide virtual resources for prayer by means of the SAINT GABRIEL HOURS blog and virtual cultural and religious resource for small spiritual networks by means of this LAKE COUNTY OHIO WEAL blog. Bishop Malesic affirms that we each have the ability to decide for ourselves the best way to pray and develop the best spiritual support network. These blogs are aimed at self-starters. They are specially aimed at persons who have the time, either because they are retired or about to retire and want to deepen their prayer life and develop a support network to serve others.
VIRTUAL RESOURCES FOR THE HOURS
Virtual resources provide more than the dry bones of the liturgical text. Videos celebrate the Hours with sounds and images. These diverse and inspiring songs are signs of the heavenly liturgy and of Christ joining all humanity to himself in song. These videos invite us to listen, to sing, and to share our songs with others.
Although solitary persons and small groups are merely a drop in the ocean of human communities, videos summon us to the great diversity of persons and communities beyond our immediate experience. As individuals and communities we are not alone. We can worship with a host of others across time and spaces.
Videos (and websites such as this one) can create and build communities as well as provide experiences of community, both communion with those who originally produced the sounds, images and websites, and communion among those who celebrate the Hours with the same sounds, images, and websites at various times and places.
In today's societies, we are usually members of many communities; a household, one or more families, a neighborhood, one or more workplaces, one or more parishes or congregations, one or more ministries, and various associations both civic and religious. Each of these, as well as each person within them, has their own experiences, needs and potentials for worship and evangelization. Let us bring the Hours to the People of God whenever and wherever we can! Let us fulfill the Vatican II vision of Christ joining all humanity to himself in song!
This website and its video links provide sufficient choices for personal and communal worship gatherings across a variety of selections (e.g. recitation, chants, hymns and readings) without overwhelming the user with too many choices. For those who may wish to explore further choices, the website provides links to posts containing an even greater number of videos.
Structure of the SAINT GABRIEL HOURS Website
The website contains two posts each day. one for Morning Prayer (Lauds) and one for Evening Prayer (Vespers). This is consistent with the emphasis on the Hours by Vatican II and subsequent documents.
Morning Prayer (Lauds) can be prayed as early as first dawn or as late as late afternoon. Evening Prayer Vespers can be prayed anytime from noon until the end of the day.
The structure of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer are very similar consisting of a HYMN, two PSALMS, either an Old or New Testament Canticle, a SHORT READING, a Responsory, a GOSPEL CANTICLE, Litany, LORD'S PRAYER, and concludes with a Collect. CAPITALIZATION indicates those elements for which this website has additional links.
The posts for Morning and Evening Prayer contains the complete official text in three forms: a YouTube link (@PrayingHabits) with the complete visual and audio text of the Hour recited by a small group, a link (@SingtheHours) with the complete sung text of the Hour, mostly by a single cantor, and a link @CathaholicMusic) with the complete text almost all sung accompanied by an organ.
By clicking any of these three links anyone can celebrate the Hour without making any other choices. No other book or booklet or any other virtual resources including the ones in this post are needed. Praying Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer can be that simple, just one click and about fifteen minutes of our most precious resource, time. Saint Ignatius argues that it is far better to pray only fifteen minutes of quality prayer focused upon God rather than spending hours in prayer preoccupied with ourselves and our concerns. Saint Ignatius wanted Jesuits to spend their time doing God's will by serving others.
Saint Ignatius emphasized quality prayer by urging Jesuits to spend more time on those elements in which they found the most spiritual satisfaction, and to not hesitate to repeat them. If for example we have a hour to spend getting physical exercise on the treadmill or taking a walk in the park, there is no reasons why we cannot use two or even all three of the full text videos to celebrate Morning Prayer.
However, the user can also extend and find greater spiritual satisfaction by using the following additional virtual resources: HYMNS, PSALMS, LONGER READINGS, GOSPEL CANTICLE, LORD'S PRAYER, CANTICLE OF SIMEON. Father Robert Taft who was my liturgy professor at Notre Dame was fond of reminding graduate students that liturgy was ritual: "We do the same thing again and again. People have the right not be surprised or confused." As a social psychologist I would say the research evidence about music says: "Limited variety of high quality resources without many confusing choices makes for good liturgy."
Three Models for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer
The Instruction for the Liturgy of the Hours promotes recitation in common as well as singing the Hours. The first option promotes recitation in common, the second and third options promote singing. Click on anyone of these audio-visual options for the full text of Morning or Evening Prayer.
RECITATION IN COMMON MODEL
DIVINE OFFICE.ORG
Excellent model of small (household size) community reciting the office with sung hymn at the beginning. This website link has the complete text and audio not only for Vespers and Lauds but also for the Office of Readings, Midmorning, Midday, Midafternoon and Night Prayer. The textual screen can be viewed as Black on White or White on Black. A good place to begin the Hours.
COMPLETELY SUNG MODELS
SING THE HOURS.ORG
Excellent model of totally sung office, mostly by one very talented young person. Although it uses some Latin, there is always an English translation.
CATHAHOLIC MUSIC.ORG
Another option of a mostly sung office, by one person with organ accompaniment. Complete text and some music notation. Latin used only for the Lord's Prayer
PERSONAL /COMMUNAL MEDITATION MODEL
The WORD ON FIRE monthly booklet contains Morning, Evening and Night Prayer for each day. It reads straight through like a book except for the beginning hymns for each hour which are all in the back of the booklet. Very useful for beginners who want to look ahead for the month to plan their prayer. Also, very useful if you or your group wants to pray the Hours using a lectio divina model, e.g. underlining and annotating the text. The booklet for any given month, e.g. February will not be exactly the same next year, because the day of the week will not fall on the same calendar date. However, most of it will be the same. Save the booklets to give away to others as examples.
MAKING PRAYING THE HOURS EASY AND INEXPENSIVE
Just as the Bishops revised the Roman Missal, they have now revised the Four Volume Liturgy of the Hours. It will be available for use on Ash Wednesday, 2027. These breviaries are expensive. Most of the editions are over a hundred dollars a volume. I have ordered a beautiful large print version which will probably sit on a bookshelf next to many other editions of the breviary. These breviaries come with many ribbons and are complicated to use. Perhaps in a few years the bishops will issue a new edition of one volume Christian Prayer which contains only Morning and Evening Prayer.
A partial solution to the price and complexity of praying the Hours is the monthly Word on Fire Booklet described above. However, an individual subscription is $9 a month, reduced to $7 if you buy ten or more each month. That is either $84 or $108 dollars a year. Still expensive but perhaps a bridge while waiting on a new edition of Christian prayer or developing the skills to use the Four Volume set.
The best solution is to abandon books and go virtual where everything is free. Saint Gabriel Hours provides three one click links each day plus alternative links for the days hymns, psalms and reading. The Work on Fire Booklets are very useful as a pony to using the website, as text that one can underline and meditate and for sharing with others. Each monthly booklet contains most of the texts for the Four-Week Psalter, which remain highly similar. If you purchase a full year of the booklets you will have most of the texts that will be found in any future Christian Prayer. HOWEVER, since days of the week fall on different days of the month each year, you will have to spend a lot of effort finding the texts each year. The digit solution is so much easier and convenient and less expensive. Saint Gabriel Hours assembles all the links you need.