The Liturgy of the Hours is the preeminent prayer of the Church outside the Mass. Praying the psalms and canticles of Sacred Scripture along with the whole Church is an ancient guide to grow in holiness. In fact, it is an imitation of Christ himself, who prayed psalms with his disciples; they continued this practice and handed it on even to the present day. This new edition of Liturgia Horarum allows people to pray the prayer of the universal Church in the universal language of the Latin Rite. It follows the Editio typica published by the Vatican in 2000; is printed according to a Decretum from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; and has been granted an Imprimatur by Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago.
This six-volume, Hardcover Edition comes with placeholder ribbons.
By tradition going back to early Christian times, the divine office is devised so that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praises of God. Therefore, when this wonderful song of praise is rightly performed . . . it is the very prayer which Christ Himself, together with His body, addresses to the Father.
Hence all who render this service are not only fulfilling a duty of the Church, but also are sharing in the greatest honor of Christ's spouse, for by offering these praises to God they are standing before God's throne in the name of the Church their Mother. . . .
The divine office, because it is the public prayer of the Church, is a source of piety, and nourishment for personal prayer. And therefore priests and all others who take part in the divine office are earnestly exhorted in the Lord to attune their minds to their voices when praying it.
— Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 84–85, 90
