From: "Alain MORY" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > hello, > > About canonical hours, I read that they were called so, while the monks > had to sing their prayers in "canon". Did anybody read this ? More > informations are better than only one.
Hi, I looked on the Web for other sources of information to support Alain's readings, but didn't find anything. A web site called New Advent ( http://www.newadvent.org/ ) gave some interesting history: "The custom of reciting prayers at certain hours of the day or night goes back to the Jews, from whom Christians have borrowed it. In the Psalms we find expressions like: "I will meditate on thee in the morning"; "I rose at midnight to give praise to thee"; "Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and he shall hear my voice"; "Seven times a day I have given praise to thee"; etc. (Cf. "Jewish Encyclopedia", X, 164-171, s. v. "Prayer"). The Apostles observed the Jewish custom of praying at midnight, terce, sext, none (Acts, x, 3, 9; xvi, 25; etc.). The Christian prayer of that time consisted of almost the same elements as the Jewish: recital or chanting of psalms, reading of the Old Testament, to which was soon added reading of the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, and at times canticles composed or improvised by the assistants. "Gloria in excelsis" and the "Te decet laus" are apparently vestiges of these primitive inspirations." The mention of chanting and the occasional use of canticles seemingly fits with the idea of musical canons contributing to the name of the hour, but I think that would be like forcing the crime to fit the evidence. The conventional explanation is enough. New Advent describes it thus: " By canonical hour is understood all the fixed portion of the Divine Office which the Church appoints to be recited at the different hours. The term was borrowed from the custom of the Jews, and passed into the speech of the early Christians. In the Acts of the Apostles we see that prayer was designated by the hour at which it was said (Acts, iii, 1). The observance from being optional having become obligatory for certain classes of persons in virtue of canons or ordinances promulgated by the Church" It seems that the relevant Canons are contained in a book called the Breviary. New Advent says "In liturgical language Breviary has a special meaning, indicating a book furnishing the regulations for the celebration of Mass or the canonical Office" Steve
