| Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
|---|---|---|
| matins=midnight? | david | Wednesday, December 22, 2004 |
Question: Dear Frater, According to some, there used to be 8 canonical hours: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline. I supposed Matins was the midnight office. Lauds at dawn (or 3.00? ), Prime at 6.00, Terce at 9.00 and so on. |
||
| Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM
Dear David: Ah, okay. You are talking about the old designations of the Hours. If I remember correctly the Canonical Hours under the old system were: Matins: The Night Office that traditionally was subdivided into three nocturns: 9pm, Midnight, 3am (This is the Midnight Office you are referring to). Lauds: Said at sunrise (and thus changed time as the time of sunrise changed) The rest of the hours are more or less at the following hours. The actual hours can vary due to the season, times of sunrise and sunset, etc. Prime: 6am (1st hour of day) This schedule of Hours, however, has been changed and thus you will not find this schedule in the current Divine Office books. The current Hours are: Matins (Office of Readings): Traditionally said around 3am, or just before Lauds, but can be said anytime. Lauds (Morning Prayer): said around 6am God bless,
|
||