Liturgy of the Hours Guides
The Liturgy of the Hours is the public and communal prayer of the Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the first duties of the Bride of Christ.
The Catholic Church teaches us that the Liturgy of the Hours is like an extension of the Eucharistic Celebration (CCC, 1178), accomplishes our sanctification (GILH, 14), permeates and transfigures the time of each day (CCC, 1174), reaches all of humanity and contributes greatly to the salvation of the world (GILH, 27), and unites our praise to that of Christ and all His angels and saints in heaven (GILH, 15-16).
In the year 2000, in his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Inuente, Pope St John Paul II said it was time for the Church to “put out into the deep.” He expressed his concern for Christians who had become content with a shallow prayer that was unable to fill their whole life. He said that in today’s world, such Christians would be “Christians at risk.”
He then insisted that the Church “become distinguished in the art of prayer” and that greater pastoral care be devoted to “promoting the Liturgy of the Hours as the prayer of the whole people of God.”
May these guides serve as an aid to help you become distinguished in the art of praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the prayer that is able to fill your whole life and plunge you into the deep of God’s strong and enduring love!
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