I too make the time for personal prayer, outside of the Mass and outside of the Divine Office, and I do my best to do so on a daily basis. I personally find that spending time in front of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is often a great aid to my spiritual life. All forms of prayer are beautiful, and they are meant to nourish our walk with our God. These other forms of prayer include the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Examen, Praise & Worship, Eucharistic Adoration, and the list goes on.ĭon’t get me wrong, I am not trying to downplay these other forms of prayer which are done in the parishes. Many parishes gather to pray other forms of prayer before or after the Daily Mass. It is the Highest form of Prayer outside of the Mass: However, by gathering to pray the Office with the Parish before or during the Daily Mass, this would aid our priests in keeping to their promise, and it would mean that there would always be a community for our priests to pray the Office with, even if the other priests are not around.Ģ. After all, even if one prays the Office on his own, he joins Mother Church in her symphony of prayer throughout the day. Priests from religious congregations such as the Franciscan Friars gather to celebrate the Office daily as well.ĭon’t get me wrong, I’m not against people who pray the Office on their own, nor am I against the concept of praying the Office on one’s own. There are parishes where the priests gather among themselves as brother priests to pray the Office. Of course, this is not the case for all priests. Even if they have conflicting schedules, and are unable to come together for all 5 hours, I personally feel that they should at least come together for the Morning Prayer, the time of day when all of them are home, most of the time at least. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with praying the Office on one’s own, especially if there’s nobody around to pray it with, it doesn’t make sense to me that priests who are required to pray the Office, are praying it on their own despite living together. Like the Mass, it is meant to be prayed with the Community. The Divine Office is the public prayer of the Church. However, the reality for most of the priests in our parishes is that once they are ordained, they usually pray the Office on their own. Most priests are cultivated with the habit of praying the Office as a community during their formation in the Seminary. On the day of their ordination, all priests and deacons take a promise to pray the Liturgy of the Hours on a daily basis. Priests are Required to pray it and it’s meant to be a Communal Prayer: So without further ado, here are five reasons why I feel that all parishes should pray the Divine Office before or during the Daily Mass:ġ. This post is based entirely on my personal opinion, and I stand corrected if what I write today is not in line with the teachings of the Church. I would however like to raise awareness on this form of prayer, which is perhaps one of the best-kept secrets of the Catholic Church. However, like all my liturgical musings, this post is not an attempt to push an agenda within our diocese, nor is it meant to be a critique of the practices in our parishes. I’m quite sure that this post is not going to sit well with some. Most were unsure when to make the sign of the cross. Many were unsure of when it was time for them to speak and when it was time for them to be silent, and allow themselves to be ministered to through listening. Many were unsure of the technicalities of the prayer. I’ve personally seen this, when the “ Circuit Breaker” lockdown was implemented in April and I started an online initiative within my community, where we gather on an online platform to pray the Morning and Evening Prayer together. In fact, the Divine Office is often unheard of among the laity, and even for those who would like to take up the habit of praying it, many are not even sure how to get started. Not many parishes in our diocese pray the Office together on a daily basis. All members of the clergy are required to pray the Office on a daily basis, and lay people are strongly encouraged to do so as well. Together with the celebration of the Eucharist, the Divine Office constitutes the official public prayer life of the Church. I wrote in February about the Divine Office, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours. Why I feel that all parishes should pray the Divine Office before or during the Daily Mass:
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