In Jesus' most desperate time, the hour when He knew we would all look at Him,
He prayed Psalm 22:
"My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?"
Sacrosanctum Concillium (the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) calls the Psalms prayed in the Divine Office (I will explain what this is later) is "the voice of the bride addressed to her bridegroom; It is the very prayer which Christ Himself, together with His body, addresses to the Father."
When we pray the Psalms we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ as He prays to God, our common Father. We enter into the communion of Love that is the Trinity. We become part of the divine life that Christ wants us to enter into. Our sanctification is directly proportionate to the amount of time we spend sharing in the life of the Trinity. When we pray the Psalms, especially in community with others, we unite our prayer to the Universal Prayer that is prayed by The Son to The Father, from the Bride (the Church) to Her Husband (God), and from all creation to The Creator.
On a more practical note, whenever you are struggling to pray, or just cannot express what you are feeling, then the Psalms give you a great way to pray. I know from my prayer life, that sometimes it is hard to talk to God. Why not just pray the words Jesus prayed, the words God wants us to offer to Him?
The Divine Office, or Liturgy of the Hours, is the prayer of the Church as a whole. It allows all the faithful to pray in unison and without ceasing to our common Savior Jesus Christ. The Liturgy of the Hours extends the Liturgy of the Mass throughout the day and allows for us to life our entire lives in the Liturgy.
So in a way, whenever we pray the Liturgy of the Hours we participate in the Eucharist. We participate in the worship that Jesus gave to us.
The Liturgy of the Hours is a prayer that brings together every other form of prayer. It includes singing hymns (praise and worship), it includes praying the Psalms, it includes readings from the Sacred Scriptures (Lectio Divina), it includes readings from Saints and Fathers of the Church, it includes the "Our Father", and it includes Marian prayers and devotions.
It is prayed throughout the day at different times and so works to sanctify the day. The times they are prayed are:
- Office of Readings (when you wake up)
- Morning (9AM)
- Midday (Noon)
- Evening (~6PM)
- Night (~10PM)
For actual instruction into how to pray at each hour, I am going to provide links to other sites which will be more helpful than me trying to explain.
http://divineoffice.org/ (for the prayers themselves)
http://divineoffice.org/liturgy-of-the-hours/how-to-pray-the-liturgy-of-the-hours/ (a good introduction on what to do)
marymotherchurch.me is also a very good ministry that has the Divine Office as part of their pillars of spirituality
I am still a novice in the Divine Office, and can tell you it was not an easy prayer for me to get into. I can tell you though that if you pray the Hours with faithfulness you start to experience life in a different way. I can feel myself participating in the life of Christ. I know that my discipline in prayer had definitely increased and that is a great fruit of having times to pray (remember my post before on prayer and schedules).
I encourage you to try praying through the Psalms and try taking up the Liturgy of the Hours! It is an adventure in Love and Life.
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess 5:16-18)
AMDG
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