LITTLE HOURS

Historically, the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church comprised the Little Hours of Prime, Terce, Sext, and None. These hours have been so called because they have never had as great an importance in the daily cursus as lauds and vespers. In fact, for centuries they were commonly not prayed at all outside of monasteries. It was only in the middle of the eighth century that their obligatory recitation by all clerics in the West started.

In the Roman Empire, daytime was divided into twelve hours. These hours varied in length according to the season of the year. The third hour, terce, began at midmorning; the sixth, sext, at midday; and the ninth, none, at midafternoon. Since these were the principal divisions of the day, it was only natural that some effort be made to raise the mind to God at these times.

Terce, Sext, and None are older than Prime. Already at the beginning of the third century Hippolytus (d. c. 235) and Tertullian (d. c. 220) commended private prayer at these hours. Tertullian cited the example of the Apostles in Acts 2.15, 10.9, and 3.1–7 as justification for consecrating these hours to prayer. Hence, they were frequently called the apostolic prayers. By the fifth century the monks and the devoti had turned these prayer times into formal periods of public prayer in many places. The sixth-century Rule of St. Benedict shows that these hours then had practically the same format as they have today. After the usual introductory versicles there is a short hymn, whose content is determined by the time of day for the recitation of that particular hour. The rest of the hour follows the customary pattern: psalmody, a short reading, responsory, and prayer. The three Psalms of each hour are taken in order from the Psalter without reference to the time of day or the festal theme.

Prime was the last hour introduced. John Cassian (d. 435) tells of its introduction in a monastery in Bethlehem. The monks had formed the habit of returning to bed after Lauds until time for Terce. To get them up earlier for the morning work the abbot introduced Prime. Its quasi-private nature was long evident from the fact that it was prayed not in the oratory but in the dormitory. For some time it had the same structure as the other Little Hours. Chrodegang of Metz (d. 766) is the first witness to the addition of the Officium Capituli, the appendix that is peculiar to Prime; it was in reality a monastic chapter meeting. The day's martyrology was read, the day's work was distributed, a chapter of the rule was read, and the abbot closed the meeting with his blessing. Thus, as the hymn for Prime indicates, this hour became a consecration of the day's work and activity.

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (89) of Vatican Council II decreed a revision of the Office, and ordered the suppression of Prime in the revision. It also said it will be lawful outside choir to select one of the other three Little Hours according to the respective time of day. This change came about because historical studies had pointed up the fact that Prime was an unnecessary duplication of Lauds and, along with the other Little Hours, had not been binding on the secular clergy for a long time.

Bibliography: p. salmon, The Breviary through the Centuries, tr. d. mary (Collegeville, Minn. 1962). j. a. jungmann, Pastoral Liturgy (New York 1962); Public Worship: A Survey, tr. c. howell (Collegeville, Minn. 1957). p. parsch, The Breviary Explained, tr. w. nayden and c. hoegerl (St. Louis 1952). s. campbell, From Breviary to Liturgy of the Hours: The Structural Reform of the Roman Office 1964–1971 (Collegeville 1995). g. guiver, Company of Voices: Daily Prayer and the People of God (New York 1988). r. taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The Origins of the Divine Office and Its Meaning for Today, 2d rev. ed. (Collegeville 1993).

[g. schidel/eds.]