Daria Sockey - The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours

The Everyday Catholics Guide to the

Liturgy of the Hours

Daria Sockey

Copyright

With the exception of the excerpts from the Psalms, Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC, and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved.

All psalms quoted in this work have been taken from The Revised Grail Psalms. Copyright 2010, Conception Abbey/The Grail, administered by GIA Publications, Inc., www.giamusic.com All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Catechism quotes are taken from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America (indicated as CCC ), 2nd ed. Copyright 1997 by United States Catholic Conference

Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Excerpts from the English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours 1973, 1974, 1975, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation.

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sockey, Daria.

The everyday Catholics guide to The liturgy of the hours / Daria Sockey.

pages cm

1. Catholic Church. Liturgy of the hours. 2. Catholic ChurchLiturgy. 3. Divine office. I. Title.

PRINT ISBN: 978-1-61636-528-8

E-BOOK ISBN: 978-1-61636-5295

Copyright 2013, Daria Sockey. All rights reserved.

Published by Servant Books, an imprint of Franciscan Media.

28 W. Liberty St.

Cincinnati, OH 45202

www.FranciscanMedia.org

Dedication

To Father Gerard Steckler, s.j. , who, during a 1979 summer program in Spain, herded a bunch of us students to the university chapel each night to pray Compline. My prayer life has never been the same.

To my husband, Bill, who gave me my first breviary and so much more.

Contents

Foreword

Let me confess up front that when Daria Sockey and her wonderful publisher invited me to enjoy the privilege of penning a few words for this book you hold in your hands, I quickly thanked them but informed them that I was far from their best option for the task. While I always have the most sincere of intentions, far too many days my fervent attempts to pray the Liturgy of the Hours are sporadic at best.

But in reality, perhaps thats what makes me the perfect advocate for the work Daria has compiled. The Everyday Catholics Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours is a gift to those of us with the desire, but perhaps not the perfect knowledge, of how to make a commitment to pray this unceasing and universal prayer of the whole people of God.

Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Most days, my morning begins with the ringing of the alarm clock, the rubbing of my eyes, a glance at my non-morning person husband still slumbering next to me, and the sound of these words ringing in my ears, courtesy of my smartphone. I pray Morning Prayer nearly every morning with the assistance of modern technologymy iPhone and the amazing YouTube videos created by David Rollins and his Penitentis channel sponsored by the Confraternity of Penitents.

As I pray along with this beautiful resource, my mind often unites with a special saint in my life, my beloved childhood pastor, Monsignor Michael Collins. It was this holy Irish priest, transplanted into my Southern California parish, who gave me my earliest introduction to the Divine Office. A dear family friend, he often traveled with us on family vacations and camping trips. My recurring memory of Fr. Collins was his steadfast devotion to his morning office. He gifted our family with many Masses celebrated on the road and also with an example of how to perfectly begin a dayin prayer, specifically with the Hours.

Imagine my joy when, as a young adult, I learned that Fr. Collinss prayer was mine, too, and that committing myself to the Liturgy of the Hours united me with so many around the globe. With the breviary, I didnt need to be a priest to pray as Fr. Collins had done! Now, thanks to the Hours, my morning prayer unfolds as my day dawns. Morning Prayer sets the tone for my vocation to motherhood and the work of sharing my faith with others through my website and writingit is the perfect start to my day.

Like you, I have many days when my first conscious thought is, Not today, Lord. Im too busy . It happens more times than I care to admit. But I find now that on the days when that excuse begins to bubble up within me, I recognize that there is truly no way my first moments could be better spent. As a frequent traveler, Ive learned that Morning Prayer is a constant that not only sets a tone for my day and expresses my priorities, it also unites me with loved ones living around the world. When I wake up on the roadas I often seem to do these daysand commence my day with the Hours, I am spiritually home.

O God, come to my aid.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Midday Prayer often feels like a luxury. A computer alarm on my laptop all too often catches me midsentence while blogging or in the midst of editing or replying to the endless chain of emails. Already? is often my first thought . Where has the morning gone? This Hour is often prayed at my desk with the aid of the Universalis website. Ive pondered on occasion investing in a beautiful print Breviary. I am attracted by the tactile feel, the ribbons, the sense of timeless tradition. But in honesty, todays digital access to the Divine Office fits my busy, wired lifestyle. Ive trained myself to find a good stopping place in my work, to silence my heart, and to close the other tabs in my browser in an effort to keep Midday Prayer from becoming simply another to do item on my list. Am I perfect at keeping this hour? No, but I will attest to the benefits of Midday Prayer in setting the right course for both my productivity and my state of mind as the day progresses.

May the all-powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death. Amen.

Night prayer is a challenge for me. I pray this particular Hour with the aid of the lovely Divine Office app on my iPad. As I fight to keep my eyes open for prayer, the voice of Dane Falkner, founder of the company behind this incredible gift of technology, rings in my ears. A geek at heart, I love praying with this app, which marries the beauty of the Psalms with the capacity to comprehend in some small way the universality of my prayer with others in the Body of Christ. One feature of the Divine Office app is a small virtual globe that rotates as I pray. At the top of the earth the app displays the number of people now in simultaneous prayer with me. Tiny dots of light pinpoint the surface of the spinning earth, marking the places where the app is in use. I pray this hour pondering my friend Fr. Roderick in Europe, the priests I prayed the Hours with in Israel last year, my son Eric studying in college back East, my parents in Mississippi, and my fellow praying moms not only across our country but also around the world. As I examine my conscience and pray the canticle, I lift not only my own soul to God but also those of my husband, sons, and extended family members as I drift off to sleep.

If youve picked up this book and are pondering whether The Liturgy of the Hours is for you, I urge you to take this journey with Daria. In the pages of her book, you will discover the heart and soul of this path of prayer. If you doubt your ability to commit to what can feel like a daunting devotion, emulate my baby steps and begin slowly. If you are someone who already has a tremendous devotion to praying the Hours, its likely that Darias work will open your eyes to new facets of your favorite prayer and help you to effectively share it with your loved ones.