Divine Office Calendar

The Divine Office at St. Lawrence

In its traditional form, the Divine Office consists of singing the Psalms eight times each day, the performance of which is a grave obligation for priests and others similarly bound. In monasteries, religious sing the entire office together so that all 150 psalms are sung each week. Priests who work in the world also pray all 150 psalms, but because of their duties ministering to the Faithful, they can only sing some of them together, and recite the rest of them privately. The Constitutions of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), approved by the Holy See, oblige its members to pray the office with each other (in common) three times a day insofar as the schedules at their apostolates allow.

Here at St. Lawrence, we have established our prayer horarium to fulfill this joyous duty (officium, in Latin, from which we have the English word office), and we invite the Faithful to assist not just at Holy Mass, but also at the Divine Office, which is the way the Church extends the celebration of the Mass throughout the day. Altar boys, especially those who are or have been members of the Acolytes Schola in our Friday Religious Education program, are invited to vest in cassock and surplice and sit in choir with the priests and visiting seminarians to learn how to sing the official prayer of the Church. 

Noting that the priests’ schedules sometimes require them to pray some of the following offices in private, we hereby publish the following horarium for the Divine Office at St. Lawrence. If you plan to drive some distance in order to come to the office, you are advised to check with the calendar above to see if there are any changes to the horarium due to apostolic work. Please note that the priests will make every effort to avoid changing Vespers.

Horarium for the Divine Office at St. Lawrence Church