Parishioners gather together Monday through Saturday, after the 8AM Mass, to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, the official prayer of the Church. Everyone is welcome to join this community prayer.
The Liturgy of the Hours stems from the Jewish idea of praying 5 times a day as a way of sanctifying one's day. The apostles carried this tradition over from our Jewish ancestry, and athough it has evolved some over the years, it has been the traditional prayer of the church since the first century. Originally, everyone prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, but due to illiteracy during the middle ages, the laity were switched over to memorize devotionals like the Angelus and the Rosary, while the literate clergy and religious carried on the tradition of Liturgy of the Hours. Today, the Liturgy of the Hours is making a resurggence in the laity and rightly so, because it is the way the Church answers the call of Jesus to "pray always." We recommend downloading "iBreviary" from your app store, to get free and easy access to the Liturgy of the Hours. Each of the hours takes between 5 - 20 minutes to say. One can begin with Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer and add the others as one feels comfortable. It may also be a good idea to attend our communal praying of the Liturgy of the Hours after the 8AM Mass, or watching videos of the Liturgy online.
The Five Traditional Hours are (with their Latin names):