Community Life: Praying the Divine Office

As part of Augustinian community life, we Augustinians pray the Divine Office, also called the Liturgy of the Hours, twice each day. We don't just pray with the Liturgy of the hours! Our most important prayer is the Holy Mass.

Generally, in most Augustinian houses we pray the morning prayer and the evening prayer from the Office as a community; although in some houses more prayers are prayed together; and during retreat we may also pray more from the Liturgy of the Hours than morning and evening prayer.

Praying the Liturgy of the hours is basically praying with the psalms and canticles found in Scripture, according to a structure and order given to us by the Church. If you're not familiar with the prayers of the Office, this webpage is a good introduction.

Why do we pray with the psalms? It is a very old tradition in the Church that goes back to Jesus himself. For example, when Jesus was in the cross, he prayed "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This cry comes from Psalm 22. The psalm starts with the same words, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" Even though it sounds as a cry of hopelessness, the psalm ends with the words, "The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought." Jesus was not only praying, but also calling to mind this psalm to those who heard him; he was being a prophet of hope. Also, when Jesus prayed, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit," he may have been using the words of Psalm 31, "Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, LORD, faithful God."

The psalms can be a window from which we can become aware of our inner struggles, and a door from which we can let God in. St Augustine explains in his commentary of Psalm 30: "If the Psalm prays, you too, pray; if it laments, you should lament; if it rejoice, rejoice with it; if it hopes, express your hope too; if it fears, you also fear. For all things written herein serve to mirror ourselves."

Yet it is possible that you may not identify with some psalms. For example you may pray for deliverance with psalm 140, "Preserve me from the violent, who plot to trip me up... The arrogant have set a trap for me; villains have spread a net, laid snares for me by the wayside." And you may feel estranged from the prayer because you may feel that no one has set traps for you. Saint Augustine explains that in these cases, you are praying for those who do need deliverance. Since through the Grace of God we became part of one body, His mystical body, the Church, we pray not only for our own condition but for our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ. It is because we are one in Him, that we may use the first-person perspective of the psalms to pray for others.

Posted by Carlos J. Medina
Pre-Novice