This is a line sung by the cantor and repeated as a response by the rest of the monks, followed by another line from the cantor and the monks repeating the second half of the response, and then the cantor sings, ‘Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit’ and the monks again repeat the response. Someone then reads a short passage of Scripture (usually two or three verses) from the breviary.Īfter a pause to meditate on what has been read there is a responsory. After that we chant two or more psalms, a canticle (song) from the Old Testament, and another psalm, all ending with the Gory Be. Next follows a hymn, appropriate to the day, saint or feast. Lauds, or Morning Prayer, starts with the Introductory, as described above. Then the Hebdom says the Collect for the day, followed by ‘Let us bless the Lord’, to which the monks reply, ‘Thanks be to God’. Again, the reading is followed by silent prayer.Īfter that we pray for anyone in the English Benedictine Congregation who has died recently and read a list of the monks and nuns whose anniversary is on that day. On saints’ days, the reading is either about the saint or from the saint’s writings. Instead, it is usually taken from one of the early Church Fathers, often a commentary on the passage of Scripture in the first reading. The second reading is not from the Bible. This is followed by another set of psalms and then a second reading. An important part of praying Scripture is silent meditation. After the reading there is silence for meditation on the reading. The only books not read are the Gospels and the Psalms – Gospels are read at Mass and the Psalms are the bulk of the Divine Office. This is a bit longer than readings at Mass and is arranged so that over a two-year cycle we read most of the Bible. Someone then reads a passage from Scripture. Hymns and psalms are usually sung with one side of the choir singing one verse, and the other side singing the next.įollowing the hymn we chant one, two, or three psalms, depending on their length. It starts with the Invitatory.Īfter the Invitatory, we sing a hymn. In the Roman Office it is called the Office of Readings. This is the first and longest of the liturgies. The Hebdom says, ‘O God, come to my assistance’, and the monks reply, ‘O Lord, make haste to help me’, followed by the Glory Be. The rest of the Hours start with an Introductory. As with all psalms, it ends with the Glory Be. The Hebdom then gives an antiphon, which the monks repeat, and then the Hebdom recites a psalm, with the monks repeating the antiphon at the end of each verse. The person leading the liturgy for the week, known as the Hebdom, says, ‘O Lord, open my lips’, and the monks reply, ‘And my mouth shall declare your praise’. This is Matins, except for Sunday, when we start the day with Lauds, because we pray Vigils on Saturday evening. The first Office of the day starts with an Invitatory. Over the course of two weeks, we pray all 150 psalms, nearly 40 of them every week. Within that structure there is a lot of variation, which is why Little Hours last less than 10 minutes and Matins lasts about half an hour. There is an Introduction, a hymn, some psalms, a reading from Scripture, and some prayers, followed by a Dismissal. The Structure of the HoursĮach ‘Hour’ (the name for the different prayer times) has a similar structure. T he Ealing Abbey Horarium (timetable of prayer). All services in the Abbey Church can be seen on livestream.
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