Good morning, Digital Neighbors! One of the wonderful habits of priesthood is praying the Divine Office, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours or the Psalter, as it has been called throughout the generations of the Church. As a diocesan priest, I pray five liturgical hours (referring to the time of day, not the length of the prayer): the Office of Readings, Lauds, Midday Prayer, Vespers, and Night Prayer. Monastic communities pray several additional hours.

God does not need my prayer, but I do. Prayer does not change the Divine, but it draws me closer into communion with His will and the peace that His will alone provides. The Divine Office prays through the Book of Psalms and other readings in a four-week cycle. The Office of Readings also follows a year-long schedule of Scripture readings and writings from the saints and other authors.

Usually attached to the Office of Readings is the Invitatory, the first psalm of the day. Traditionally it is Psalm 95, though Psalms 24, 67, and 100 are also often used. There is usually an antiphon (abbreviated Ant.) that provides a focus for the psalm as it is prayed. At the end of each psalm is a prayer honoring the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. If you’re interested in discovering more about this ancient form of prayer—rooted in our Jewish heritage of praying the Psalms—I’ll leave a link at the bottom. Have a blessed day, my friends!

Psalm 95

Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker.

Come, let us sing to the Lord
and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.
Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving
and sing joyful songs to the Lord.

The Lord is God, the mighty God,
the great king over all the gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
and the highest mountains as well
He made the sea; it belongs to him,
the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands.

Come, then, let us bow down and worship,
bending the knee before the Lord, our maker,
For he is our God and we are his people,
the flock he shepherds.

Today, listen to the voice of the Lord:
Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did in the wilderness,
when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me,
Although they had seen all of my works.

Forty years I endured that generation.
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray
and they do not know my ways.”
So I swore in my anger,
“They shall not enter into my rest.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker.

https://divineoffice.org/