Laudis Canticum

As required by the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium [570], account was taken of the circumstances in which priests engaged in apostolic works find themselves today.

The Office has been drawn up and arranged in such a way that not only clergy but also religious and indeed laity may participate in it, since it is the prayer of the whole people of God. People of different callings and circumstances, with their individual needs, were kept in mind and a variety of ways of celebrating the office has been provided, by means of which the prayer can be adapted to suit the way of life and vocation of different groups dedicated to the Liturgy of the Hours.

Since the Liturgy of the Hours is the means of sanctifying the day, the order of this prayer was revised so that in the circumstances of contemporary life the canonical hours could be more easily related to the chronological hours of the day.

For this reason the Hour of Prime was abolished; Lauds as morning prayer and Vespers as evening prayer, as hinges of the entire Daily Office, were assigned the most important role and now have the character of true morning and evening prayer; the Office of Readings retains its character as a nocturnal Office for those who celebrate it during the night, but it is suitable for any hour of the day; the Prayer during the day is so arranged that those who choose only one of the Hours for midmorning, midday, and mid-afternoon may say the one most suitable to the actual time of day, without omitting any part of the four-week Psalter.

To ensure that in celebrating the Office mind and voice may be more easily in harmony and that the Liturgy of the Hours may become in reality "a source of devotion and nourishment for personal prayer," Sacrosanctum Concilium [[570|90]] in the new book, the amount of obligatory daily prayer has been considerably reduced, but variety in the texts has been notably increased and many aids to meditation on the Psalms provided, for example, titles for the Psalms, antiphons, Psalm-prayers, and optional periods of silence.

In accordance with the ruling by the Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium [[570|91]] the weekly cycle of the Psalter has been replaced by an arrangement of the Psalms over a period of four weeks, in the new version prepared by the Commission for the Neo-Vulgate edition of the Bible, which we ourselves established. In this new arrangement of the Psalms a few of the Psalms and verses that are somewhat harsh in tone have been omitted, especially because of the difficulties anticipated from their use in vernacular celebration. In addition, new Canticles from the Old Testament have been added to Lauds (morning prayer) in order to increase its spiritual richness and Canticles from the New Testament now enhance the beauty of Vespers (evening prayer).

In the new cycle of readings from Holy Scripture there is a more ample selection from the treasury of God’s word, so planned as to harmonize with the cycle of readings at Mass. The passages provide in general a certain unity of theme and have been chosen to present, in the course of the year, the principal stages in the history of salvation.

In accordance with the norms laid down by the Council, the daily reading the works of the Fathers and of ecclesiastical writers has been revised in such a way that the best of the writings of Christian authors, especially of the Fathers, is included. Besides this, an optional Lectionary will be prepared with a fuller selection from the spiritual riches of these writers, as a source of even more abundant benefits.

Anything that is not in harmony with historical truth has been removed from the text of the Liturgy of the Hours. On this score, the readings, especially biographies of the saints, have been revised in such a way that, first and foremost, the spiritual portrait of the saints and their significance for the life of the Church emerge and are placed in their true context.

Intercessions (preces) have been added to Lauds to express the consecration of the day and to offer prayer for the day’s work about to begin. There is also a short act of supplication at Vespers, drawn up in the form of general intercessions. The Lord’s Prayer has been restored to its position at the end of these prayers. Since the Lord’s Prayer is also said at Mass, this change represents a return in our time to early Christian usage, namely, of saying this prayer three times in the day.