The Divine Office

The Obligation of the Divine Office.—(a) Matter.—A cleric is gravely obliged to recite the Office according to his own rite and in the language of his rite, and not to make any notable change in the Office prescribed by the Ordo, either as to quantity (e.g., by omission of a Little Hour or of parts equally long) or as to quality (e.g., by substitution of a minor office for that of one of the great solemnities.) The omission of the Vespers of Holy Saturday, of Pretiosa, or of the Rogation Litanies seems to be only a venial sin, because in the first two cases the prayer is short, while in the third case the precept seems to be sub levi. There is also lightness of matter in the omission of an inconsiderable part of the day’s Office, or in the substitution without good reason of an equal part for a prescribed part.

(b) Manner.—Since the Office is a prayer, of a public and daily kind, it must be said: mentally, that is, there must be at least virtual intention (which is present from the fact that one takes up the Breviary to fulfill the obligation) and at least external attention (see 2166 sqq.); vocally, that is, the words must be consciously formed by the lips, mouth, or tongue, but it is not necessary that they be audible, unless two or more are saying the Office together; within the limits of the day, that is, Matins and Lauds may be anticipated from 2 p.m. of the previous day, but the whole Office must be finished before midnight of the current day. These are substantial requisites and bind sub gravi, but there may be only venial sin when they are deviated from inconsiderably. Next, since the Office has a continuity of thought, an order of precedence among its hours and their subdivisions, and a special dignity, it must be said uninterruptedly (i.e., without break between the parts of an hour), in order (i.e., according to the succession of Matins, Lauds, Prime, etc.), with external respect as to place and posture (i.e., he who is bound to choral Office should say it in choir and with the rubrical postures, while he who is bound only to private Office should say it in church or some other becoming place, and should observe the rubrical or at least a respectful posture). These are accidental requisites and bind sub levi. For a good reason one may interrupt the Office even for a notable part of the day (e.g., one may discontinue in the midst of a Psalm to pay a duty of politeness or to attend to business), and for convenience one may invert the order of hours or of parts of hours, or may say the evening hours in the morning.

Excuses from the Obligation of the Divine Office.—(a) For Substitution.—A sufficient reason makes it permissible to substitute another office not notably different in quantity or quality, as when one lacks a new office, or has greater devotion for another office. When substitution has been made unintentionally, the following rules may be observed, though the last two are not admitted by all: office counts for office, (e.g., he who through mistake has said the office of another day may let that office stand for today’s office, but should add enough to make up for any notable shortness in the office said); hour does not count for hour (e.g., he who through mistake said Tierce twice cannot count the second Tierce for Sext); an error should be corrected when noticed (e.g., he who notices at Sext that he is not saying the right office should change from Sext); an error is not corrected by another error (e.g., he who said today’s office yesterday should not say yesterday’s office today).

(b) For Omission.—The causes that excuse, in whole or in part, from recitation of the Office are physical inability (e.g., loss of the breviary, blindness of one who does not know the hours by heart, sickness or convalescence which makes the recitation a grave hardship), moral impossibility (e.g., when an urgent duty of charity or justice so takes up one’s time that one cannot get in all the Office), just dispensation or commutation given by the Pope or, for temporary release, by the Ordinary.