Thursday, November 13, 2014

The Meaning of Time and the Liturgy of the Hours

One of the main purposes of the Divine Office, with its prayers at fixed periods of the day, is the sanctification of Time, that priceless, ever fleeting commodity that we never seem to have enough of, but regularly waste much of what is given to us.

Stretch your mental muscles a bit and read this lecture on "The Sanctification of Time and the Liturgy of the Hours" by Father Hildebrand Garceau, O.Prem., who is a chaplain at Thomas  Aquinas College in California.

My daughter is currently a sophmore at TAC, and I'm happy that this is one of the fine priests that is (hopefully) having an influence on her spiritual and intellectual formation.

Father begins his lecture by discussing that nature of time. What is it, exactly?  How is it related to memory? What is meant by the term "hour" as in "My hour has not yet come." (Jn. 2:4) This is not a short or easy read, but it is worthwhile AND it gets easier as you go along. Part II connects Time to Liturgy, and from that point you will be on more familiar ground as he talks about the prayer that we experience each day.

Give it a try and you will sure learn something.

Feel free to comment below on this lecture, or make any other comment or question about the Liturgy of the Hours.