Little Hours
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The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church. These Hours are called 'little' due to their shorter and simpler structure compared to the Night Hours. Traditionally, these times of prayer include Prime, at 6 a.m., Terce at 9 a.m., Sext at noontime, and None at 3 p.m. These prayer times derive from ancient Jewish practice and are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles; the prayers consist mainly of psalms.
After the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Prime was suppressed, and only one of the three remaining prayers need be normally said, unless bound by a rule that states otherwise. The three hours are now referred to collectively as Daytime Prayer (Latin, Hora Media) and celebrated as a single hour. These prayers, like the rest of the Liturgy of the Hours, are also now usually said in the vernacular where they are called Midmorning (Terce), Midday (Sext), and Midafternoon (None) prayer. The current structure of the Little Hours include an introductory prayer, a hymn, three psalms with antiphons, which vary by day of week, a reading, a versicle, and a closing prayer. If more than one of these Hours is said, an invariant set of psalms is said on subsequent hours. Theses prayers do not change with liturgical season or feast. These prayers are intended to be short enough to be memorized, to avoid interruption of work during the day.
The recent growth of Traditional Catholicism has led to greater use of the older forms of prayer in the Divine Office, which are typically longer and said in Latin.
[edit] See also
- The Night Offices: Vespers, Compline, Matins or Office of Readings, and Lauds.
- Also, older names of night prayer: Nocturns and Vigils
| Traditional Liturgical Hours of the Catholic Church | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matins | Lauds | Prime | Terce | Sext | None | Vespers | Compline |
