Praying the Liturgy of the Hours 

Well isn’t it interesting I awaken around midnight,can’t figure out why, turn on You Tube and it suggests here that I pray at midnight? I’m ON IT 👍

Been praying the liturgy of the hours since I became a consecrated lay person. After my car accident, my pastor and his friends retaught me, and I relearned with the entire parish. I'm in deep gratitude for my recovery. I owe the Church for my life, and my secular career, too. God bless you, Father Casey.

This sunday the 24th at 11am (central) mass i will be initiated into the church with my confirmation/first eucharist. Blessed mother pray for me. St Joseph pray for me. St dunstan my patron saint pray for me.

In the morning, started praying parts of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the evening before going to sleep I listen to Vespers on RU-vid, as well as praying the Rosary and some other devotions from the Pieta prayer booklet. I pray over an hour a day. These prayers have helped me very much with my nightmares. Since I was a little child (I'm now 59), I have suffered from demonic nightmares. And these Liturgy of the Hours prayers help me very much.

This video is awesome! I’m a Lay Dominican and we’re called to pray morning and evening prayer.

I just found out about the Liturgy of the Hours because of the Catholic talk show. I left the church for Judaism for 10 years. They pretty much pray 3 times a day. This is commonplace in Judaism, and I wanted to find something like that in Catholicism. This LoTH is a game changer. It’s beautiful! Your heart just smiles when you do it. It’s exactly what I’m accustomed to doing also (big thanks to our Jewish brethren, I really did learn so much from them!) every Catholic should commit to praying often throughout the day like our Jewish brothers do. It’s just such a relaxing thing to do and connect with God. I’m learning so much about Catholicism thanks to what I learned on the other side of the fence. Praise be to God.

I just found that the word "siesta" comes from the word "sexta", Spanish for "the sixth hour".

I've been praying the Liturgy of the Hours for years, not as regularly as I wish I did, but it is a gift.

Fr. Casey you are an up coming bright radiant for the Catholic Church in America. May Gob help you to reach public home and hearts like St. Fulton Sheen. God loves you father.

My first experience with the “hours” were with the Eastern Orthodox with their great vespers on Saturday evening and compline during great lent. I quickly fell in love with the orthodox vespers and wishing that the Local catholic celebrated vespers publicly. My second experience with the hours were in a community that celebrates the Latin mass, in which they prayed compline daily. This Lent I started to pray morning and evening prayer of the office until Easter when I decided to pray the entire office. The LOH gave me an appreciation of the psalms more. The office of readings were my source of the writings of the saints. I prayed the LOH daily until about a week ago. I decided to switch to the old Roman breviary (the office for the traditional Latin mass) , and I will say that I love the Roman breviary more. It is much longer than the LOH, but what I really enjoy is the fact that the psalms were more focused in the old office. Each day of the week each hour focuses on a central theme, and you really get the feeling of praying the psalms while living through a certain time period of salvation history. The closest thing that LOH has were the antiphons of each psalm that gives you a general idea on what to focus. The most difficult about the old office is the length especially the matins (it’s equivalent is the office of readings). In matins you pray around 10 psalms plus 3 to 9 lessons depending on the type of feast. 1 nocturn or 3 nocturns for the feast day. This week for example, every day within the octave of Christmas are matins with 3 nocturns instead of the usually one. You pray all 150 psalms weekly as well.

Great video, Brother. I have been praying the Divine Office for a few years now. It was the most major thing that reignited my faith in Christianity after growing up culturally Methodist then going atheist. I questioned why the Jews had 3 daily prayers and Muslims had 5 - and when I found out that Christianity did in fact have prayers at set times I was quite stunned. It's so important to me I chose St. Benedict as my patron saint.

Love the liturgy of the hours and pray vespers almost every evening with the friars. (I have this luxury because I live close to a friary-and I’m grateful for it!) Sure, it takes a while to learn how to operate the breviary, but the red text and all those ribbons help! And in the end, you end up memorizing a lot of Psalms and other scripture.

Amen, God bless father Casey. Thanks to all our priests and God bless them

Before AM Mass, our church prays the Liturgy of the Hours daily, it has helped me so much in my daily walk.

Orthodox Jews still pray 3 services a day, morning, afternoon and evening. If they are prayed in community, there is a cantor and responsive portions, but they can also be prayed alone. Many Orthodox synagogue have a daily schedule of 3 services. There is also an order of sitting, standing, etc

I just got your book Called on Audible and was delighted to hear it's read by you too! Great video :) Definitely would like to explore the Liturgy a bit more :)

Thank you father , For sharing this with us ! So grateful for your wisdom and knowledge ✨

Thank you for this catequesis! It makes me understand better who we love and worship, and how and why we do it.

Incredible, Fr. Casey. You have made difficult things most simple and easy to understand. GBU ever to bring more such spiritual learnings to inflame our hearts and live our faith!

I love the liturgy of the hour. It's so beautiful. Though during the week I usually only find time for the evening prayer/complet. Excellent video! God bless you Fr. Casey!

Finally! I have been researching the Hours for weeks and this is the first time I actually get an explanation that makes sense … Thanks Father!

Thank you so much Father, 🙏🙏 I really wake up usually at twelve midnight and I felt good instead of seeing tv until midnight Ipray this,I'm also attending Mass and praying the rosary asides from praying for the souls in purgatory I felt that God knows my needs so my priority is to pray not for me and my needs but, to say the Prayers like this ,because times is running short for us living temporarily here on earth and the most important is our preparation for our salvation and the time to depart which we don't know when,this prayer is our consolation and hope to avail the offer by God for our eternal life.

Thanks for the peaceful words father. :) Bless us always. ❤

Yes ,yes,yes in praying liturgy of the hours I've turn my time into a precious moments 💗💗💗🎉 and I have reserved this ,as I found this priceless treasure on earth by praying contemplating and waiting for the moment when I'm ready to face our Creator to tell that I don't waste my precious time in listening to distracted sounds but,only to this. Thank God and to those who are concerned to let us know further the importance of the liturgy of the hours I'm in it as my commitment until the last of my breath here on earth .May the Good Lord ❣️.Bless everyone United us in praying the Liturgy Of the Hours.Amen.😮😊

Fantastic explanation of the Liturgy of the Hours! It puts it into a good perspective. I hope to start incorporating it into my daily prayer.

THANK YOU FR Casey, I have participated in this prayer a number of times at a local Monastery. I knew that it was a tradition but did not understand the significance nor how ancient the origin of the prayers were. Blessings and peace from The Great South Land of The Holy Spirit.

Hi, I look forward to this class and getting my own book set in 2024. I was fortunate to have our instructure have the volumes I can use during our class times.

Good for you Father Casey promoting the liturgy of the hours! To me the purpose of this prayer is captured well in the simple story of the day when Peter went up to pray in the afternoon and got the groundbreaking vision about the Gentiles (Acts 10:9) and the prayer in Acts 4. The idea is that God communicates with us in that privileged time and we receive personal revelation and key information from God and we praise God through Christ and present the needs of the world and the church it is or could be so amazing. Just like the early church that prayed as a community in Acts we can be empowered with the Holy Spirit today. The thing that really kills that spirit of revelation/communication that ideally should characterize the liturgy of the hours is the legalism/ritualism imbedded in the thought process surrounding the LOTH. Every catechetical document we have on it is dripping in language that does nothing to facilitate personal contact with God but emphasizes the gestures the words and of course the almost magical nature of a “Public prayer” (super prayer) that must/should be recited together in public, etc all these legalistic mindsets and requirements kill participation in the prayer and the benefits of the prayer for those who do participate. I believe that behind all of this legalism lurks the idea that the liturgy of the hours is somehow a magical exercise designed to tap into God's power and perhaps even score us points with God rather than facilitate personal prayer. Now I know there are some devote Catholics out there who would probably say how dare you say such a thing?! Or she is a “heretic” or How dare she question the way the church does things?! But the results or lack thereof in our current approach to the LOTH don't lie. I'm not sure that I am fully capturing what's wrong but I know that it could be so much more.

Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for your clarity and enthusiasm

Peace and Good brothers and sisters in Christ & Mary Immaculate ! . There are two very important "food x the soul" to me beside the Mass : 1- The Liturgy of Hours and 2- The Holy Rosary Also the reading of the Sacred Scripture ! . But I have to say that the reading of the Saints Biographies IS very helpful and strongly recomend it to every one ! . Deus Meus Et Omnia ! .

I received my liturgy of the hours through Word on Fire, I absolutely love it!

Had never heard of the Liturgy of Hours before today and your explanation was both fascinating and informative. Thank you!! God Bless

Thank you so much Father Casey. It is an awesome video clip full of information. I do appreciate it, and I did enjoy it. 🙏 God bless you 🙏😇 👼❤️💙🙏💟 Greetings from the District Of Columbia 🙏

Magnificent summary! My pastor just gifted me a 4-volume Breviary and my head has been hurting trying to understand how the prayers are structured! Thank you Fr. Casey and God bless you! :)

Thank you so much, Father, for that wonderful explanation so succinctly.

Your such a great speaking and love how the videos are edited 🙌👍👍 great information 🙏

Without wanting to sound like a holier than thou type, I admit to having been consecrated in June of this year, and have infact been reciting the Divine Office since February of this year, albeit that this ofcourse includes a period of training, which concluded in June. SO I can 100% identify with all you have explained in this video, as I am now SO MUCH involved in it Fr Casey. Thank you though for the explanation of the why's and wherefores of the purpose of these offices, but I am sad to say, that due not so much to the complexities of the offices themselves,,but the tool we use,( viz the breviary, all 3 volumes of it)need a lot of patience, study and training on its use,as it's very complex, and I'm afraid that it'll put many people of reciting these liturgical, unless a simpler layout or format is used I can now do it without any more difficulty, but it's taken me the best part of a year to become conversant and fluent in it. As I have some serious health issues, I am unable to recite it communal every day, but am forced to do it solo, altho I try to do it in public 2 or 3 times a month. Still, it HAS changed my life immeasurably, that's for sure.

please make a video on how-to pray the Liturgy of the Hours!!

Thanks for this talk

Great job, Fr. Casey. I love watching our next generation priests leading the Church in their ardor, love, and promotion of the faith using the tools of the age in the New Evangelization. Thank you!

I wish my parish had daily morning and evening prayer in the church. Even when the psalms we read do not relate to my life, I think of Catholics all over the world are praying the exact same psalms on every continent and whose needs (rights and freedom, weather, happiness, sadness, etc.) may be different from my own. My old parish had daily morning prayer twenty minutes before mass every weekday. The lay people led the different parts, without any priest or religious. On special days, we had sung Evening Prayer (vestments, incense, etc.), sometimes during Exposition of Blessed Sacrament. It was beautiful.

The liturgy of the hours also really helps build up Mass on Sunday and the celebration of seasons

Thank you for this introduction. With some adaptations Christians of other traditions can pray this as well.

I am a Reformed Christian who discovered the Liturgy of the Hours more than four decades ago via the Lutherans. Up to then my prayer life had been haphazard, but the LotH stabilized it, and I've followed this regimen ever since. More Reformed Christians need to discover this for themselves.

That was very helpful, thanks!

You know it's become a habit if you've ever started grace with +God come to my assistance...

Wonderful !

Love this!

Thank you for the video. I pray the Lauds and Vespers and sometimes the Compline if I am still awake. ❤

I've recently fallen in love with the liturgy of the hours after a preparation camp for the WYD in Lissboa this summer. I try to pray it in the morning and durring the evening as a simple intro to it, balancing it with my rosary and holy hour and aiming for praying all the LOTH prayers. A day feels just off without praying Laudes and compline, I love interacting like that with the psalms.

Thank you Fr.!

Great video, thanks so much! It really helps with my writing research!

Thank you for this explanation.

Great video Father, I was thinking about this for a while, As a layman i guess I should start praying it.

Just learning about this & your video helps.

Thank you for explaining

I'm waiting for a comment that says "you shouldn't pray like the pagans". A quick refute, before someone can comment this: When we pray the liturgy of the hours, we pray that God sanctifies each part of the day, and we keep a consistent and open "line of communication" with God throughout the day. I believe the liturgy of the hours to be a great way to pray fervently and often

AMEN PRAISE GOD

Yes, that is beautiful.

Great video. But one thing blew my mind. How on Earth you came up with a pic of the Old Town in Warsaw (4:21), my home town. Very random and surprising selection :)

If I did this, I would have to do it a little differently lol. I wake at about 2pm, go to work at 8 or 9pm, and get home at about 4-5am. I would have to do the morning prayers at noon! lol

In addition to these very helpful instructional videos, I think it would be great to see some videos of actual communal praying of the LotH without commentary. Thanks!

Fr. Casey I've been trying to read the DO for awhile now. Being a truck driver makes it extremely difficult. Do you know of an audio way I can listen to it while driving? I really enjoy your channel while driving. Thanks and God bless for all you do. 🤗💖🙏💖👏

The intro music got you off to a good start!!

Yes, I do, thanks to my former pastor! Fr J Kirby ♥️♥️♥️ forever grateful! Available from Word on Fire, available on a monthly basis, easy peasy! ❤️‍🔥

Broo Warsaw in the background!!! 4:27 love from Poland

Awesome video

Fantastic

The Breviarium Romanum is my way to go. 7 hours and much more complete and interlaces with the Mass of All Ages. 😇

The end to the evening prayer seems like the template for Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ's brilliant capture of his Dark Night of the Soul: "All life death does end and each day dies with sleep"

Compline is my favorite of the hours!

Please make an instructional video on how to pray and set up your book(s) for the liturgy of the hours it is very confusing

My order prays the hours of 9am, Noon, and 3pm at minimum.

Good video

Someone is teaching me how to pray The Hours now. I hope I can learn it completely soon. I want to be a Brother some day

Divine Office

I am so moved by this video, I am on the verge of crying.

Hello KC...i love the LH. I try to pray with it. However, once I was invited to read a little book called The Marvellous Secret of the Souls of the Purgatory by Sor Emmanuel. Go ahead and read it if you feel like it. It says interesting things about the Rosary. Lots of love and blessings for you.

Im an anglican and i just found this video by searching for litergy after i couldnt make church today due to work.

Could you give us an example of praying this way, since you do it ? A video mentioning the prayers, Psalms etc for each time of the day( awakening, working, bedtime) you mentioned, would be very helpful and appreciated.

Fr. Casey, will you be doing a video on observing Advent at home? I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would be interested in hearing some ideas from you.

I don't know that this is less important than the rosary, but it is great because the liturgy of the hours remained common in the Eastern church. So, now we are more, traditionally, the same, (One Holy Catholic and Apostolic church) with our eastern brothers and sisters in the church. Pretty soon, we won't be ABLE to differentiate our own selves; "that they may be One," was what Jesus prayed, right?

15 min. and a cup of coffee...hey its its a start for me

I used to say, Morning, Evening, and Night Prayer. Then I just said Morning and Evening Prayer. That soon became Morning Prayer only. Now I don't even manage to say that. I seem to go through phases where I simply have to break away from all conformity.

Which of these hours do the Franciscans pray daily? And do you pray together in the choir like monks do? What about when you’re outside the convents on duty or traveling? :-)

Casey, my Brother, I watched this video (as I do all your videos) and decided this was for me. I went to FranciscanMedia and ne illuc vir. I went to Amazon and while there are many varieties, I couldn't find the one you show pictured. Not for vanity's sake, but I would like something that I can pass on in the future. Also, I don't recognize the crest on the side of the box. Is there a different version you would recommend? Could you possibly drop a link here? Thanks.

Does this chart of weekly psalm change?? How we have three year of readings cycle A ,B,C I have ibreviary app downloaded form play store its bit confusing with extra psalm like - COMPLEMENTARY PSALMODY Go to Series II (Midday) Go to Series III (Midafternoon) Series I (Midmorning) Ant. 1 I cried out, and the Lord heard me. With series please can you explain more on divine Office

"...in and out in 6 minutes." Yeah, if you're John Moschitta. On average I find it takes 12-15 minutes. With the shortest one being night prayer, of course, usually about 5 minutes. I daily pray all 7 hours and I enthusiastically encourage it but just want to be straightforward so as to not frustrate anyone starting this; 6 minutes? Not really.

@Breaking in the Habit. LOL Context clues. Good one. (;

Benedictine monks of Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma on the cover image for this video.

That’s our liturgy, indeed!

Night Prayer is my absolute favorite

Interesting. The traditional form which priests and religious may pray to fulfill their obligations under sumorum pontificum is slightly different you have Matins (equivalent of office of readings) Lauds(morning prayer), Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers(evening prayer) and Complin(Night prayer). The layout is different eg (not limited to) complin having 3 Pslams. Also a priest/religious (as far as my research let’s me know) need to say all the hours of the pray the traditional form to fulfil their obligations unlike the new form.

Fr. Casey, of bot in the middle of the night, when should one contemplate the office of readings?

Orthodox pray the Horologion...which is similar to the Liturgy of the Hours.

Nice job Father on your channel. By the way, why do you used picture of beautiful Warsaw Old City?

I am a Canon regular living under the Rule of Saint Augustine at the Orthodox shrine of our Lady in Scotland. Secular clergy and laity are bound to pray morning, evening prayer and compline but the Canons maintain the Shrine chapel, the Relics and the grounds of the College of Saint Augustine at Buittle castle. But more important than all that is maintaining prayer to our Lady seven times a day. We currently use the Benedictine Office of our Lady but hopefully will soon move to using the Marian office found in the Use of Sarum which is the Orthodox patrimony of the British Isles and the liturgical use that we practice at our cathedral in Dumfries. I think Matins, with all its lessons from scripture and expositions of the Fathers is my favourite Hour to pray. The entire liturgical round is composed solidly of scripture in all its parts. The Church intends for us to learn scripture through liturgy not bible study.

Hi Father, great video. Even as a layperson I try to pray the Liturgy of the Hours every day (morning, evening, and night prayers). I do have a question though: for prayer during the day are priests and religious required to pray all three hours (midmorning, midday, and afternoon) or just simply one of these options?

If these prayers occur at 6am, 6pm and noon, do they include the Angelus?

😊 I was licensed to recite the liturgy of hours, all 7 of them,,2 years ago, it IS actually quite demanding in a way,,but it does give structure to the day. Unfortunately, on health grounds, I don't do the office of readings, in the middle of the night, but at 9am in the morning, as it's the last office I read before the midday angelus, Sext( at midday), and terce at 3pm and the last 2 offices at 6pm, (vespers) and 9.30pm Compline (night prayer) sounds frightfully complicated but once you've got into the routine of it, it becomes a habit, that sets out your entire day, and with an otherwise normal days activities in between whiles, it certainly ensures that you're never short of something to do. I'm not a priest or a nun, but after a period of training by a brilliant priest ( now very sadly deceased) had to vow and undertake to recite these offices daily, both on my own and at least monthly in public. I thoroughly recommend anyone to try it. Usually you need only recite morning, and evening prayer and you're encouraged to do one of the day time ones, say at 3pm though that one's not compulsory, whereas morning smd evening prayer are. It's definitely a good anchor for your day, the only real difficulty IS the book( called the breviary) is quite complicated to master, so you mught find it easier to have a bit if guidance and help on that aspect of this practice.