he public and communal prayer of the people of God is rightly considered among the first duties of the Church.  From the very beginning the baptized ‘remained faithful to the teaching of the apostle, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers’ (Acts 2:42).  Many times the Acts of the Apostles testifies that the Christian community prayed together. 

These prayers in common at the different Hours of the day gradually took on a more definite shape, which today we describe as the Liturgy of the Hours, or Divine Office.  Enriched with readings, it is principally a prayer of praise and supplication, indeed it is the prayer of the Church with Christ and to Christ. 

In the Liturgy of the Hours, which the Church from very early times has been accustomed to recite during the course of the day, she fulfils the command of the Lord to pray without ceasing, and while giving praise to God the Father, at the same time she intercedes for the salvation of the world. 

Over the centuries the Divine Office, which originally was prayed by all, tended to become the undertaking chiefly of religious establishments and of the clergy.  However, the Second Vatican Council determined to restore its practice, in all its beauty, to the whole people of God. 

Thus the laity once again has the privilege of becoming familiar with the wonderful psalms in all their unveiling of the human heart, with the Scripture readings, with the Intercessions for the needs of the Church, of the world, and of our own parish, and of following closely the unfolding of the whole liturgical year of the Church. 

In October 2004, our late Holy Father, Venerable Pope John Paul II, wrote at the inauguration of the Eucharistic Year: 

“In this context of a training in prayer, I recommended the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, by which the Church sanctifies the different hours of the day and the passage of time through the liturgical year.”
– Mane Nobiscum Domine, Paragraph 8.

In our parish Morning Prayer is recited before Mass each weekday morning at 9:40am. Evening Prayer is recited each Friday evening at 7:00pm and concludes with Benediction.