Rachel Evans
The Holy Hour is a Catholic devotion where one spends an hour in prayer, dedicating that time to be with Jesus. The tradition officially dates back to 1674 when Christ appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque multiple times over a 13-month period. Holy Hours are commonly done in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, but they can be performed at any time and place. The hour is meant to be a time of meditative dialogue with God, reading Scripture, listening to worship music, journaling, or simply talking with God.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Holy Hour |
| Description | Holy Hours are commonly done in Eucharistic adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, but it is not mandatory to be in the presence of the Eucharist and can be practiced at any time: in a church, at home, or outside. |
| Time | Traditionally done on Thursday nights from 11:00 pm to midnight, usually on the eve of the first Fridays of the month. |
| History | This tradition stems from the Gospel of Matthew, during the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion, Jesus spoke to his disciples, asking them to "keep watch with me." |
| People | Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Mother Teresa, Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius X, Pope Paul VI |
| Organisations | Roman Catholic Church |
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What You'll Learn
The Liturgy of the Hours
The practice of canonical hours originated from the Jewish tradition of reciting prayers at certain hours of the day or night. In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelite priests to offer sacrifices of animals in the morning and afternoon (Exodus 29:38–39). Over time, these sacrifices moved from the Tabernacle to Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. During the Babylonian captivity, when the Temple was no longer in use, synagogues carried on the practice, and the services (at fixed hours of the day) of Torah readings, psalms, and hymns began to evolve. This "sacrifice of praise" began to be substituted for the sacrifices of animals. After the people returned to Judea, the prayer services were incorporated into Temple worship as well.
The term "Liturgy of the Hours" was retroactively applied to the practices of saying the canonical hours in both the Christian East and West, particularly within the Latin liturgical rites, prior to the Second Vatican Council. In 1971, following the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church's Latin Church revised the liturgical book for the celebration of the Divine Office and published it under the title "Liturgy of the Hours". This Liturgy of the Hours is published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana in four volumes, arranged according to the liturgical seasons of the church year. The Latin hymns of the Roman Office were, in many cases, restored to the pre-Urban form, although several of them were shortened.
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The Divine Office
The current official version of the hours in the Roman Rite is called the Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: Liturgia Horarum) or Divine Office. In Lutheranism and Anglicanism, they are often known as the daily office or divine office, to distinguish them from the other "offices" of the Church (e.g., the administration of the sacraments). In the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches, the canonical hours may be referred to as the divine services, and the book of hours is called the Horologion (Church Slavonic: Chasoslov).
The Liturgy of the Hours, produced by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, was first published in 1975 by the Catholic Book Publishing Company in the USA. This edition is the official English edition for use in the US, Canada, and some other English-speaking dioceses. It is in four volumes, an arrangement identical to the original Latin typical edition. The psalms are taken (slightly adapted) from the 1963 Grail Psalms, while the Scripture readings and non-Gospel canticles are taken from the original 1970 first edition of the New American Bible.
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The Work of God
The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God (Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying them with prayer. The Work of God is a meditative dialogue on the mystery of Christ, using scripture and prayer. The dialogue is always held in the presence of God and using the words and wisdom of God. The Liturgy of the Hours is made up of five canonical hours, which include selections from the Psalms that culminate in a scriptural proclamation.
The two most important or "hinge" Hours are Morning and Evening Prayer. Morning and Evening Prayer each includes a Gospel canticle: the Canticle of Zechariah from Luke 1:68-79 for Morning Prayer (known as the Benedictus) and the Canticle of Mary from Luke 1:46-55 for Evening Prayer (known as the Magnificat). The Gospel canticle acts as a kind of meditative extension of the scriptural proclamation in light of the Christ event. Morning and Evening Prayer also include intercessions that flow from the scriptural proclamation, just as the Psalms prepare for it.
The other three hours are the Office of Readings or Officium lectionis (formerly known as Matins), Daytime Prayer, and Midmorning Prayer or Terce. The Office of Readings is the longest hour and consists of a long passage from Scripture, usually arranged so that in one week, all the readings come from the same text. This is followed by a long hagiographical passage, such as an account of a saint's martyrdom or a theological treatise commenting on some aspect of the scriptural reading.
The Liturgy of the Hours is the official form of the Roman Rite contained in the four-volume Latin-language publication Liturgia Horarum, first published in 1971. English and other vernacular translations were soon produced and made official for their territories. The Liturgy of the Hours is based on the Latin 1971 editio typica and was published by the Catholic Book Publishing Company in the USA in 1975. This edition is the official English edition for use in the US, Canada, and some other English-speaking dioceses.
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The Holy Hour
The practice of the Holy Hour is believed to have originated from the personal devotion of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, who experienced private revelations of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. This devotion later became widespread among Roman Catholics, who adopted it as a form of Eucharistic adoration.
Mother Teresa, in her private writings, also describes her practice of the Holy Hour, which she referred to as their "daily family prayer." She writes about praying the Rosary before the exposed Blessed Sacrament for the first half hour and then continuing with silent prayer for the second half hour.
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The Canonical Hours
In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours are fixed times of prayer at regular intervals that mark the divisions of the day. The practice of canonical hours stems from Jewish prayer. In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelite priests to offer animal sacrifices in the morning and afternoon (Exodus 29:38-39). These sacrifices were initially offered at the Tabernacle and later moved to Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. During the Babylonian captivity, when the Temple was no longer in use, synagogues continued the practice, and services evolved to include Torah readings, psalms, and hymns instead of animal sacrifices.
By the 4th century, the elements of the canonical hours were more or less established. The monastic Liturgy of the Hours consisted of seven daytime hours and one night hour, as outlined in Psalm 118/119:164, "Seven times a day I praise you", and Psalm 118/119:62, "At midnight I rise to praise you". The fixed-hour prayers became known as the "Divine Office", derived from the Latin 'officium', meaning "duty". The term "Matins", derived from the Latin 'matutinus', meaning "of or belonging to the morning", was initially applied to the psalms recited at dawn. Over time, the title "Lauds" (or praises) was applied to the three last psalms in the office (148, 149, 150), in which the word "laudate" is frequently repeated. The Night Office and Lauds are grouped together as a single canonical hour, forming a total of seven canonical hours.
The three major canonical hours are Matins, Lauds, and Vespers, while the minor hours are Terce, Sext, None, and Compline. The early monastic communities composed a complete series of hours for morning, noon, and evening, and by the 9th century, the structure was fixed. The musical items found in the canonical hours include antiphons (texts sung before and after psalms), psalm tones (formulas for intonation of psalms), responsories (texts sung after lessons or scriptural readings), hymns, and lesson tones. The first musical settings of the hours were sung in plainsong (one voice part, in unmeasured rhythm), and the music of the hours has preserved some of the oldest examples of polyphony, or the simultaneous combination of melodies.
The current official version of the canonical hours in the Roman Rite is called the Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: Liturgia Horarum) or Divine Office. The Liturgy of the Hours was first published in 1971 in Latin and soon translated into English and other languages. The English edition is a four-volume publication that includes psalms, Scripture readings, and non-Gospel canticles. The Liturgy of the Hours constitutes the public prayer of the church, along with the Mass, and is celebrated by Christians of both Western and Eastern traditions, including Latin Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Lutheran, Anglican, and some other Protestant churches.
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Frequently asked questions
Holy Hours are commonly done in Eucharistic adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, but it is not mandatory to be in the presence of the Eucharist and can be practiced at any time: in a church, at home, or outside.
Holy Hours are more traditionally done on a Thursday night, from 11:00 pm to midnight, usually on the eve of the first Fridays of the month.
The Holy Hour is done in silent adoration for "a suitable length of time". It is to last at least until midnight, but be without any solemnity after the dawn of Good Friday.
Yes, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus asked his disciples to "keep watch with [him]" for an hour.
The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God, is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer.
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