WOF Show Podcast - Word on Fire - WOF 542 | Why All Catholics Should Pray the Liturgy of the Hours

Dr. Matthew Petrusek Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I’m Matthew Petrusek, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. The Liturgy of the Hours, or the “Divine Office,” is often associated exclusively with the spiritual practices of priests, monks, and nuns. To be sure, praying the Hours is an essential part of the lives of those who have formally taken religious vows. However, the prayer of the Church, as the Liturgy of the Hours is also called, is precisely that: a way of sanctifying the day for the whole Church, both laity and clergy alike. With so many forms of prayer already available, however, why should lay Catholics also consider praying the Hours? What, substantively, is distinctive about it? What are its origins? Moreover, given the size and complexity of the Hours—the full liturgy occupies four thick volumes of text with multiple ribbons to mark different sections—how, practically, can we get started? Here to explain the enduring theological and spiritual richness of the Liturgy of the Hours and how it deepens and enriches all Catholics’ lives, is Bishop Robert Barron. 00:00 | Introduction01:11 | Bishop Barron’s diocesan travels02:35 | Why the Liturgy of the Hours matters to Word on Fire03:57 | Leading with beauty04:57 | Prayer and the importance of embodiment08:06 | The origins and practice of praying the Divine Office12:13 | How the Liturgy of the Hours shapes priests13:26 | Understanding the Liturgy of the Hours as the Divine Office14:22 | Relating the Liturgy of the Hours to the liturgy of the Mass15:11 | What makes a prayer liturgical?15:52 | Why the Psalms feature so prominently in the Divine Office20:06 | How the laity benefits from praying the Divine Office21:46 | “Pray without ceasing”23:17 | Getting started with the Liturgy of the Hours27:32 | Persevering through fatigue in prayer30:51 | The Divine Office and evangelization31:44 | Listener question: What effect does our prayer have on others?34:18 | Join the Word on Fire Institute Links: <ul class="wp-block