Breviary
A breviary is a liturgical book in the Roman Catholic Church that contains the prayers, psalms, hymns, readings, and antiphons for the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office, which sanctifies the course of each day through structured communal and personal prayer.[1] This official prayer of the Church, rooted in the Jewish tradition of fixed prayer times and early Christian practices, fulfills the biblical call to "pray without ceasing" by dividing the day into canonical hours that meditate on Christ's Paschal Mystery using Scripture and patristic writings.[1] The origins of the breviary trace back to the primitive Church's all-night vigils and the development of daily offices by the fourth century, with monastic influences—particularly from St. Benedict's Rule in the sixth century—adding hours like Prime and Compline to create a fuller rhythm of prayer.[2] By the twelfth century, the disparate elements of the Divine Office, previously drawn from multiple books such as the Psalter and Antiphonary, were compiled into a single volume known as the breviary, initially for Franciscan use and later standardized for the universal Church following the Council of Trent in 1568 under Pope St. Pius V.[2] Pope St. Pius X revised the breviary in 1911, reorganizing the Psalter for a complete weekly recitation; the post-Vatican II reform in 1971 under Pope Paul VI expanded the Psalter to a four-week cycle, incorporated more Scripture, and emphasized vernacular recitation while preserving Latin as the official language.[1] Structurally, the modern breviary—officially titled Liturgia Horarum—is typically published in four volumes corresponding to the liturgical seasons, comprising the Office of Readings, Morning Prayer (Lauds), Daytime Prayers (Terce, Sext, None), Evening Prayer (Vespers), and Night Prayer (Compline), with additional sections for the Proper of Seasons, Proper of Saints, Commons, and hymns.[1] It serves as an essential tool for clergy, religious, and laity obliged or encouraged to pray it, fostering the Church's priestly participation in Christ's mediation and connecting daily life to the Eucharistic liturgy.[1] Today, while physical breviaries remain in use, digital apps and online resources have made the Liturgy of the Hours more accessible, though the Church mandates the approved edition for official recitation.[1]Definition and Overview
Etymology and Terminology
The term breviary derives from the Latin breviarium, meaning "summary," "abridgment," or "compendium," originally referring to any condensed text or handbook.[3] In the Christian liturgical context, it specifically denotes a book compiling the texts for the canonical hours of the Divine Office, emerging as a practical abbreviation of earlier, more dispersed prayer resources.[2] The designation "breviary" for such portable liturgical compilations first appeared in the late 11th century, with single-volume editions becoming widespread from the 12th century onward to facilitate private recitation by clergy traveling or studying away from monasteries.[4] This reflected a shift from bulky choir books used in communal settings to compact personal volumes. Following the Council of Trent (1545–1563), Pope Pius V promulgated the first standardized Breviarium Romanum in 1568, establishing the term's official use for the Roman Rite's prayer book and imposing uniformity across the Latin Church.[2] The breviary is distinct from other liturgical books, serving exclusively for the daily Divine Office of psalms, readings, and prayers, in contrast to the missal, which provides the texts, chants, and instructions for celebrating the Mass, and the sacramentary, a collection of presidential prayers primarily for the Eucharist and other sacraments.[5][6]Purpose and Liturgical Role
The breviary functions primarily as the liturgical book that enables clergy to recite the Divine Office, a structured cycle of prayers comprising the canonical hours, thereby fulfilling their canonical obligation to engage in daily prayer. This obligation applies to clerics: priests and deacons aspiring to the priesthood must recite the full Liturgy of the Hours daily, while permanent deacons are required to recite the portion determined by the episcopal conference; it also applies to members of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, who must observe it according to their proper norms.[7][8] The breviary compiles the necessary texts—psalms, readings, hymns, and intercessions—into a portable format, allowing for consistent performance of these prayers regardless of location.[9] In its broader liturgical role, the breviary serves as the official prayer book for the Liturgy of the Hours, which constitutes the public prayer of the Church and extends the sacrificial praise of the Eucharist throughout the day. By facilitating prayer at appointed times, it promotes the sanctification of time, consecrating the passage of hours to God through a rhythm of praise, petition, and thanksgiving that mirrors Christ's own prayer. This structure fosters unity among the faithful, as the Hours are intended not only for individual devotion but also for communal recitation, emphasizing the Church's apostolic mission.[10] The rubrics outlined in the breviary accommodate both private recitation, suitable for individual clergy, and choral recitation in community settings, such as monasteries or cathedrals, ensuring flexibility while upholding the obligation's integrity. Clerics are required to prioritize the principal hours of Lauds and Vespers daily, with the full Office encouraged to maintain the prayer's continuity on behalf of the entire Church. This underscores the breviary's essential place in clerical life and ecclesiastical discipline.[10][7]Historical Development
Early Origins in Christianity
The practice of fixed prayer times in early Christianity drew from Jewish traditions, where the psalmist expressed devotion by praising God "seven times a day" (Psalm 119:164), a custom that emphasized rhythmic, daily worship linked to the hours of the day and night.[11] Early Christians adapted these Jewish prayer hours, viewing themselves as the continuation of Israel, and integrated them into their spiritual life as a means of sanctifying time through communal and personal prayer.[12] This adaptation is evident in the New Testament, such as Acts 3:1, where Peter and John go to the temple at the hour of prayer, reflecting the third hour (9 a.m.) from Jewish liturgy.[13] One of the earliest Christian documents prescribing fixed prayer times is the Didache, dated around 100 AD, which instructs believers to recite the Lord's Prayer three times daily, aligning with the Jewish hours of morning, noon, and evening to foster discipline and unity in worship.[14] This text, an early manual of Christian practice, underscores how these prayers replaced or supplemented Jewish forms like the Amidah, promoting the Lord's Prayer as central to daily devotion.[11] By establishing these set times, the Didache helped lay the foundation for structured prayer that would evolve into the canonical hours. Patristic writers further developed these practices, with Tertullian around 200 AD describing "station" prayers during the day and nocturnal vigils at night as essential for spiritual vigilance, urging Christians to guard against temptation through timed prayer like soldiers on watch.[15] Similarly, Hippolytus of Rome in his Apostolic Tradition (c. 215 AD) outlined prayers at the third, sixth, and ninth hours, tying them to Christ's Passion—dawn for his trial, midday for the darkness at the crucifixion, and afternoon for his death—to commemorate salvific events and encourage frequent thanksgiving.[16] These writings portray daytime and nighttime prayers as precursors to formalized offices, blending personal piety with communal rhythm. The monastic tradition advanced this structure significantly with St. Benedict's Rule, composed around 530 AD, which standardized eight daily prayer periods—Vigils, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline—for Western monks, balancing prayer, work, and rest to fulfill the biblical call to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).[17] Drawing from earlier patristic and scriptural sources, Benedict's framework emphasized the recitation of psalms and readings at these hours, profoundly influencing the development of liturgical prayer in the Latin Church by providing a practical, communal model for daily offices.[18]Medieval Compilation and Standardization
During the 9th and 10th centuries, the breviary began to emerge as a distinct liturgical book amid the Carolingian Renaissance, as scholars and church leaders sought to standardize the Roman Office across the Frankish Empire. Alcuin of York (c. 735–804), invited to Charlemagne's court in 782, played a pivotal role in compiling and revising prayer books that integrated Roman liturgical elements, including antiphonaries and responsorials, to unify disparate local practices. These Carolingian prayer books, influenced by earlier transmissions like the antiphonaries sent by Pope Paul I to Pepin the Short around 760, laid the groundwork for later breviaries by consolidating the texts for the Divine Office into more cohesive volumes. By the 11th century, the first true breviaries appeared around 1080, evolving from multi-volume "libri nocturnales" (night office books) into abridged, portable forms known as "epitomata sive breviaria" for private and travel use, such as the "breviarium parvum itinerarium" preserved at Durham Cathedral. Monastic reforms further shaped the breviary's compilation and content during this period, promoting both standardization and variation. The Cluniac reforms of the 10th and 11th centuries, centered at the Abbey of Cluny, emphasized elaborate liturgical observance and restored longer scriptural lessons—such as dividing the Epistle to the Romans into six lessons—countering trends toward abbreviation in urban churches. In contrast, the Cistercian order, founded in 1098 at Cîteaux, pursued simplification under figures like Bernard of Clairvaux, reducing the number of psalms in the office and streamlining rubrics to align closely with the Rule of St. Benedict, which influenced the inclusion of monastic saints' feasts like that of St. Benedict. These reforms, while aiming for uniformity within orders, inadvertently fostered regional adaptations, as monasteries adapted texts to local customs; for instance, the Cluniacs' emphasis on extended prayer cycles impacted breviaries in France and beyond, while Cistercian austerity influenced simpler English variants. By the 13th century, this interplay of centralizing efforts and local innovations resulted in significant pre-Trent diversity, with over 200 distinct regional breviaries circulating across Europe, each reflecting diocesan or monastic "uses." In England, prominent examples included the Sarum Use, originating at Salisbury Cathedral in the late 11th century under Bishop Osmund and spreading widely by the 13th century for its balanced integration of Roman and Gallican elements, and the Hereford Use, a more conservative diocesan rite preserved in manuscripts from the 14th century onward, emphasizing unique local kalendars and chants. This proliferation highlighted the breviary's role as a customizable tool for communal worship, often enriched through artistic means; illuminated manuscripts like the Luttrell Psalter (c. 1320–1340), commissioned by Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, exemplify this integration by blending psalms—central to the breviary's canonical hours—with vivid depictions of medieval life, underscoring the book's cultural and devotional significance.[19]Reforms from Trent to the 20th Century
The Council of Trent, seeking to address liturgical diversity and inconsistencies in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, initiated reforms that culminated in the standardization of the Roman Breviary under Pope St. Pius V in 1568. Through the bull Quod a nobis issued on July 9, 1568, Pius V promulgated the Breviarium Romanum, which unified the breviary for the universal Church by suppressing non-Roman rites and uses unless they had been in continuous practice for at least 200 years or were protected by apostolic privilege. This edition retained the essential structure of the Roman Office while eliminating medieval accretions, such as excessive saints' feasts (e.g., suppressing the feasts of SS. Joachim and Anne due to their apocryphal origins), reducing the number of doubles and semi-doubles, and restoring precedence to the seasonal ferial and Sunday offices. Key rubrical simplifications included shortening Sunday Prime by redistributing Psalms 21–25 to the ferias, limiting the Office of the Dead to specific days like All Souls, and ensuring at least two scriptural lessons in Matins nocturns; these changes emphasized scriptural authenticity and seasonal focus over proliferation of commemorations.[20] Subsequent papal revisions refined Pius V's work without overhauling its framework. Pope Clement VIII, via the bull Cum in Ecclesia of May 10, 1602 (effective 1604), commissioned a thorough correction of textual inaccuracies and historical errors in the breviary, adding new feasts such as those of SS. Romuald and Stanislaus while preserving ancient customs; this effort, spanning nearly a decade under a dedicated commission, enhanced uniformity and fidelity to sources. In 1632, Pope Urban VIII further polished the liturgy through the bull Divinam Psalmodiam of January 25, 1631, which reformed the hymns by revising their texts for metrical regularity, classical Latin style, and theological precision—altering traditional compositions like Conditor alme siderum to align with Renaissance humanistic ideals, though this drew criticism for deviating from patristic originals.[20][2] In the early 20th century, Pope St. Pius X addressed longstanding issues with psalm distribution via the bull Divino Afflatu of November 1, 1911 (effective 1913), rearranging the psalter to enable the recitation of all 150 psalms every week rather than biannually. This reform reduced Matins psalms from 18 on Sundays and 12 on ferias to 9 daily, divided longer psalms, and redistributed displaced psalms to Lauds and the minor hours, drawing inspiration from the Ambrosian rite; it shortened dominical and ferial offices while simplifying festival transfers, aiming to make the Office more accessible for clergy and conducive to meditative prayer.[20][2] Pope Pius XII continued this trajectory of simplification in the mid-20th century. The 1955 reform, enacted through the decree Maxima Redemptionis Nostrae Mysteria of November 16, 1955 (effective 1956), revised the Holy Week liturgy, shifting the Divine Office timings—such as placing Holy Thursday Vespers within the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, omitting Vespers on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and adjusting Compline accordingly—to restore ancient evening celebrations and enhance pastoral participation. Complementing this, the 1960 rubrical code, commissioned under Pius XII and promulgated by John XXIII via Rubricarum Instructum on July 25, 1960, further streamlined the breviary by reducing the rankings of certain feasts, suppressing most octaves (e.g., retaining only those of Easter, Pentecost, and Epiphany) and vigils (e.g., eliminating those for feasts outside Lent), and converting simples to optional commemorations, thereby alleviating complexity and emphasizing principal solemnities.[21][22]Contents and Structure
Canonical Hours
The canonical hours of the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office, structure the breviary's daily cycle of prayer, sanctifying the course of each day and night through communal and personal recitation. Rooted in Jewish prayer practices and early Christian traditions, they evolved into the current framework following reforms after the Second Vatican Council. Traditionally, there were eight hours—Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline—but the 1971 Liturgia Horarum suppressed Prime and renamed Matins as the Office of Readings (with flexible timing), while requiring only one of the daytime hours.[1][23] The principal hours and their approximate timings in the modern form are as follows:| Hour | Approximate Timing | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Readings | Flexible (night or morning) | Extended scriptural and spiritual readings for meditation |
| Morning Prayer (Lauds) | Dawn | Praise at the start of the day, recalling Christ's Resurrection |
| Daytime Prayer | Midmorning (9 AM), Midday (Noon), or Midafternoon (3 PM); one selected | Brief prayer commemorating the Passion |
| Evening Prayer (Vespers) | Dusk | Thanksgiving at day's end, recalling Christ's sacrifice |
| Night Prayer (Compline) | Before sleep | Examination of conscience and entrustment to God's protection |