A Duty to Pray

Creatures of habit

Routine gives our life structure and helps us achieve our goals. We savour some routines like our morning coffee or watching a sitcom on Netflix or reading a novel in the evening before bed. Some routines may be necessary but require discipline like rising early each morning for work or attending a gym class. Routine can facilitate effective work performance. Routine or rather a rule of life is also essential in the life of the deacon and priest, in striving to live a holy life. Prayer punctuates each day for the deacon or priest and creates a space for silence so that he can tune into the voice of God in his life. Such a daily discipline of prayer focuses the deacon or priest on his identity as a servant of God, invites him to draw spiritual strength and inspiration from God for his ministry in a parish, and allows him to offer prayer for needs of the Church and the world – the sick, the poor, and the dead.      

The Promise to Pray

Priests and deacons are obliged to pray the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office. At his ordination, the candidate who will be ordained a deacon promises to God and the Church that he will pray the Liturgy of the Hours throughout his life. During the Rite of Ordination, the bishop asks the candidate: “Are you resolved to maintain and deepen a spirit of prayer appropriate to your way of life and, in keeping with what is required of you, to celebrate faithfully the liturgy of the hours for the Church and for the whole world?” To this question the candidate responds with confidence and conviction: “I am”.  

The Public Prayer of the Church

After Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours is the “public prayer of the Church”; it is also known as the Divine Office (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 90). This form of prayer is centred on praying the psalms during five particular offices daily: Morning Prayer (Lauds), the Office of Readings, Prayer during the Day, Evening Prayer (Vespers), and Night Prayer (Compline). Praying in this structured way throughout the day, often in the middle of study or parish work, helps make the deacon or priest conscious that he he cannot accomplish anything without God (c.f. John 15:5). By praying the Liturgy of the Hours the day is made holy and offered to God as a pleasing sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

Seminary Prayer

On entering the seminary, a man is first introduced to the Liturgy of the Hours. The seminary day begins with Morning Prayer. After a day of classes and study, the seminary gathers as a community to pray Evening Prayer. Morning and Evening Prayer are the “two hinges” or “chief hours” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 89). At the end of the day Night Prayer is celebrated and is an appropriate way to conclude the day — examining your conscience, asking for forgiveness, and giving thanks for God’s blessings. By learning to pray the Liturgy of the Hours throughout his time in seminary, a man prepares himself for the commitment to praying in this way for life.

Personal Experience

I spent six years in the National Seminary at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth during which the Liturgy of the Hours became an integral part of my life. In 2015, I decided to leave seminary formation to discern my vocation elsewhere. After leaving the structured life of seminary, I gradually stopped praying the Divine Office with my prayer life becoming more sporadic and spontaneous. In 2017, I was on pilgrimage in Medjugorje with friends and we prayed Night Prayer each night together under a statue of the Risen Christ. I realised that I missed the Liturgy of the Hours and I decided to resume praying Morning and Evening Prayer when I returned home. By resuming my prayer life, I tuned into God and how he was communicating with me through the scriptures. There is no surprise that when I prayed the Liturgy of the Hours again, I sensed God calling me to reconsider a call to the priesthood.

Barry White is a deacon of the Diocese of Meath and studying Canon Law at KU Leuven.