CHAPTER IV THE DIVINE OFFICE
83.
Christ Jesus, high priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature,
introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages
in the halls of heaven. He joins the entire community of mankind to Himself,
associating it with His own singing of this canticle of divine praise.
For he
continues His priestly work through the agency of His Church, which is
ceaselessly engaged in praising the Lord and interceding for the salvation of
the whole world. She does this, not only by celebrating the eucharist, but also
in other ways, especially by praying the divine office.
84.
By tradition going back to early Christian times, the divine office is devised so
that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praises of God.
Therefore, when this wonderful song of praise is rightly performed by priests
and others who are deputed for this purpose by the Church's ordinance, or by
the faithful praying together with the priest in the approved form, then it is
truly the voice of the bride addressed to her bridegroom; lt is the very prayer
which Christ Himself, together with His body, addresses to the Father.
85.
Hence all who render this service are not only fulfilling a duty of the Church,
but also are sharing in the greatest honor of Christ's spouse, for by offering
these praises to God they are standing before God's throne in the name of the
Church their Mother.
86.
Priests who are engaged in the sacred pastoral ministry will offer the praises
of the hours with greater fervor the more vividly they realize that they must
heed St. Paul's exhortation: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:11).
For the work in which they labor will effect nothing and bring forth no fruit
except by the power of the Lord who said: "Without me you can do
nothing" (John 15: 5). That is why the apostles, instituting deacons,
said: "We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word"
(Acts 6:4).
81.
In order that the divine office may be better and more perfectly prayed in
existing circumstances, whether by priests or by other members of the Church,
the sacred Council, carrying further the restoration already so happily begun
by the Apostolic See, has seen fit to decree as follows concerning the office
of the Roman rite.
88.
Because the purpose of the office is to sanctify the day, the traditional
sequence of the hours is to be restored so that once again they may be
genuinely related to the time of the day when they are prayed, as far as this
may be possible. Moreover, it will be necessary to take into account the modern
conditions in which daily life has to be lived, especially by those who are called
to labor in apostolic works.
89.
Therefore, when the office is revised, these norms are to be observed:
a) By the
venerable tradition of the universal Church, Lauds as morning prayer and
Vespers as evening prayer are the two hinges on which the daily office turns;
hence they are to be considered as the chief hours and are to be celebrated as
such.
b)
Compline is to be drawn up so that it will be a suitable prayer for the end of
the day.
c) The
hour known as Matins, although it should retain the character of nocturnal
praise when celebrated in choir, shall be adapted so that it may be recited at
any hour of the day; it shall be made up of fewer psalms and longer readings.
d) The
hour of Prime is to be suppressed.
e) In
choir the hours of Terce, Sext, and None are to be observed. But outside choir
it will be lawful to select any one of these three, according to the respective
time of the day.
90.
The divine office, because it is the public prayer of the Church, is a source
of piety, and nourishment for personal prayer. And therefore priests and all
others who take part in the divine office are earnestly exhorted in the Lord to
attune their minds to their voices when praying it. The better to achieve this,
let them take steps to improve their understanding of the liturgy and of the
bible, especially of the psalms.
In
revising the Roman office, its ancient and venerable treasures are to be so
adapted that all those to whom they are handed on may more extensively and
easily draw profit from them.
91.
So that it may really be possible in practice to observe the course of the
hours proposed in Art. 89, the psalms are no longer to be distributed
throughout one week, but through some longer period of time.
The work
of revising the psalter, already happily begun, is to be finished as soon as
possible, and is to take into account the style of Christian Latin, the
liturgical use of psalms, also when sung, and the entire tradition of the Latin
Church.
92.
As regards the readings, the following shall be observed: a) Readings from
sacred scripture shall be arranged so that the riches of God's word may be
easily accessible in more abundant measure.
b)
Readings excerpted from the works of the fathers, doctors, and ecclesiastical
writers shall be better selected.
c) The
accounts of martyrdom or the lives of the saints are to accord with the facts
of history.
93.
To whatever extent may seem desirable, the hymns are to be restored to their
original form, and whatever smacks of mythology or ill accords with Christian
piety is to be removed or changed. Also, as occasion may arise, let other
selections from the treasury of hymns be incorporated.
94.
That the day may be truly sanctified, and that the hours themselves may be
recited with spiritual advantage, it is best that each of them be prayed at a
time which most closely corresponds with its true canonical time.
95.
Communities obliged to choral office are bound to celebrate the office in choir
every day in addition to the conventual Mass. In particular:
a) Orders
of canons, of monks and of nuns, and of other regulars bound by law or
constitutions to choral office must celebrate the entire office.
b)
Cathedral or collegiate chapters are bound to recite those parts of the office
imposed on them by general or particular law.
c) All
members of the above communities who are in major orders or who are solemnly
professed, except for lay brothers, are bound to recite individually those
canonical hours which they do not pray in choir.
96.
Clerics not bound to office in choir, if they are in major orders, are bound to
pray the entire office every day, either in common or individually, as laid
down in Art. 89.
97.
Appropriate instances are to be defined by the rubrics in which a liturgical
service may be substituted for the divine office.
In
particular cases, and for a just reason, ordinaries can dispense their subjects
wholly or in part from the obligation of reciting the divine office, or may
commute the obligation.
98.
Members of any institute dedicated to acquiring perfection who, according to
their constitutions, are to recite any parts of the divine office are thereby
performing the public prayer of the Church.
They too
perform the public prayer of the Church who, in virtue of their constitutions,
recite any short office, provided this is drawn up after the pattern of the
divine office and is duly approved.
99.
Since the divine office is the voice of the Church, that is of the whole
mystical body publicly praising God, those clerics who are not obliged to
office in choir, especially priests who live together or who assemble for any purpose,
are urged to pray at least some part of the divine office in common.
All who
pray the divine office, whether in choir or in common, should fulfill the task
entrusted to them as perfectly as possible: this refers not only to the
internal devotion of their minds but also to their external manner of
celebration.
It is,
moreover, fitting that the office, both in choir and in common, be sung when
possible.
100.
Pastors of souls should see to it that the chief hours, especially Vespers, are
celebrated in common in church on Sundays and the more solemn feasts. And the
laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the
priests, or among themselves, or even individually.
101.
1. In accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the Latin rite, the Latin
language is to be retained by clerics in the divine office. But in individual
cases the ordinary has the power of granting the use of a vernacular
translation to those clerics for whom the use of Latin constitutes a grave
obstacle to their praying the office properly. The vernacular version, however,
must be one that is drawn up according to the provision of Art. 36.
2. The
competent superior has the power to grant the use of the vernacular in the
celebration of the divine office, even in choir, to nuns and to members of
institutes dedicated to acquiring perfection, both men who are not clerics and
women. The version, however, must be one that is approved.
3. Any
cleric bound to the divine office fulfills his obligation if he prays the
office in the vernacular together with a group of the faithful or with those
mentioned in 52 above provided that the text of the translation is approved.
|