Paul, the Church on earth is united to Christ as a Body is united to its head. This was Jesus’ great act of consecration there supremely he offered his Father, on our behalf, perfect obedience, in perfect humility, with the perfection of love, to the end.Įver since then the worship of the Church, the worship Christians offer to God, has been through Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ. But it was perfected, consummated, focussed on the Cross. It continued uninterrupted throughout the whole of his life on this earth. This began at the moment of the Incarnation, when he stepped into this world in frail mortal flesh.
SC 14).īy participating in the liturgy we exercise our baptismal priesthood our participation in the priesthood of Jesus Christ.Īs our great High Priest, Jesus Christ offers perfect worship to his Father. Pius X said, and Vatican II strongly took him up on this: full, conscious and active participation in the liturgy is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit.” (cf. It’s their privilege, their birthright, their dignity. Therefore all the baptised are called to participate fully, consciously and actively in the liturgy. Vatican II most beautifully says of the Liturgy that “it’s the summit towards which all the activity of the Church is directed, and the source from which all her power flows” (SC 10 LG ). So all the baptised are called to participate fully in the life of the Church.Īt the heart of the life of the Church, and at the source of her holiness, is her divine worship: the liturgy. One of the most central and fundamental of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council is that all the baptised are called to the fullness of the Christian life to the fullness of holiness. Why would anyone want to take up saying the Divine Office, especially if already they have a good routine of personal prayer and regular Mass attendance? Participation in the life of the Church, in the prayer of Christ. Part of the purpose of this talk is to underline that encouragement, while saying a little bit about the meaning and value of the Divine Office, its history and content. Priests, deacons and Apostolic religious are bound to recite this Office daily, and other members of the faithful are warmly encouraged to take it up for themselves, whether in groups or as individuals. Various abridged formats are available also. They haven’t been edited either since the 1970's, which is a big pity, because the first edition was far from perfect, and lots of things have happened liturgically since, so an updated version is badly needed. Maybe you can get second hand ones for less. They cost around £50 each, which is a lot.
DIVINE OFFICE NIGHT PRAYER FOR TODAY FREE
As a matter of free choice, also, our community has retained the Latin language and Gregorian Chant.įor most people who aren’t monks, though, the Divine Office will mean the post-Vatican II vernacular Roman Office, published in 3 large volumes. Benedict prescribes in his Rule, written in the 6th century. What we do at Pluscarden remains almost exactly what St. We came to the monastery to pray: we’re not in a hurry we have nothing better to do. One major difference between the two is that ours is much longer. Our Office faithfully follows the liturgical laws of the Church, and is fully approved by her.
Obviously the two are not opposed to one another: they are variants of the same thing. It’s not the Roman Office, but the Monastic or Benedictine Office. The Divine Office we pray at Pluscarden is somewhat different from what most people are used to. Benedict calls the Divine Office simply The Work of God - the Opus Dei - and he insists that nothing whatever in the monastery is to be preferred to it. But just to make sure monks get the priorities of their life right, St.
We do other things too: we celebrate daily Mass of course, we read, we work, we eat and sleep. That all takes several hours, every single day. 7 times a day and once at night we come together to sing it. What I say will inevitably be coloured by my experience of 30 years in the monastery, where the Divine Office is one of the principal things we do: our whole life is structured around it. Talk on the Divine Office, originally given to Students in January 2014īy Dom Benedict Hardy OSB, Prior of Pluscarden “Praying with the Church - The Divine Office”
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