During the night or at whatever hour of
the day, the office of reading is celebrated, it has, in fact, the
eschatological character of the old vigils. It has become a celebration of the Word, Profitable,
but we can not see in it a celebration of a particular mystery of Christ as in the
other Hours (IGLH 55-73). As to the office of the Complies, it is an intimate
prayer before the rest of the night inviting the confident abandonment into the hands of the Lord in the
imitation of Christ on the cross (IGLH 84-92). We therefore have to see how the
Liturgy of Hours sanctifies morning, midday and mid-afternoon by evoking the decisive
events in the history of salvation: at Terce: Pentecost; at Sext: the crucifixion
of the Lord; at None: , the redemptive death. It was already the interpretation
given by St. Cyprian to this private prayer of the Christians who devoted their
days by making memorials daily, of the mysteries of the Passion and the coming
of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. For practical reasons due to the difficulties
of modern life, only one of the "little hours" Terce or Sext or None is
mandatory. One must choose the one that suits the hour of prayer. Let us note
this character of "truth" which is required between the time of
prayer and the celebrated mystery at each of the three offices for the median
hour (IGLH 74-83), which are, in principle, obligatory for those who celebrate
the choral office
(IGLH 76).
We shall examine in turn each of the
little traditional Hours in order to highlight the way the Liturgy of the Hours
evokes at each time a mystery of Christ, or even several aspects of the mystery
central to the Christian faith: the paschal mystery.
Terce
The
hymn for the third hour is the Nunc,
Sancte Spiritus, one of the few prayers directed to the Holy Spirit and which,
every day, makes a memorial of Pentecost, the mystery of the fullness of Easter, imploring a renewal of the Pentecostal grace for the Church (168).
A second optional hymn is also provided: "Certum tenentes ordinem ", which at the third hour asks the One and Triune God,
that each member of the community might become an habitation of the Holy Spirit,
in imitation of the apostles (169). Through the six orations chosen for the course
of the ordinary cycle, one finds the desire to explain in the prayer the grace
of the third hour. On Monday, one wishes to obtain for the members of the Church,
a charity worthy of the children of a father, and that, in daily labor (170).
On Tuesday, the prayer refers to the event of Pentecost; by praying for an
outpouring of the Spirit of Agape on the comforted community, his testimony is
recognized as authentic (171). On Wednesday, the Father is invoked as "the
faithful God who sent the Spirit promised by Christ to gather together men
divided by sin so that the Christians might keep fervently the gifts of unity
and of peace (172). The third hour is also the time, according to tradition, when
Christ began to suffer the outrages of his Passion as recalled in a hymn in Lent
and another in paschal time. The prayer
for the third hour on Friday in ordinary time also recalls the mystery of the
Passion. : The fruit of this prayer addressed to our Lord Jesus Christ, is the
forgiveness of past sin and protection from evil to come. (173). On Saturday, we
return to the mystery of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church: the
infusion of light expected from him and the exultant joy of the praise of God
(174). In short, the third hour is the memorial
of the mystery of the Pentecost and prays for the gifts of the Spirit: agape, strength
of witness, unity, peace and so the light of conscience and that Christian
worship might be animated by the Spirit of love and truth.
168. Ordin. ad tert. hymn. Nunc, Sancte, nobis,
Spiritus, str. 2.
169. Ordin. at tert. hymn. (ad lib.), Certum tenentes
ordinem, str. 1 et 2 .
170.
Fer. II T.O. I, ad tert. orat. conclus.
171. Fer. III T .. O. I, ad tert. orat. conclus.
Fer. V T.O. I ad tert. orat. conclus.
172. Fer. IV T.O. I ad tert. orat. conclus.
173. Ordin. ad tert. T. Quadrag. hymn. Dei fide,
qua vivimus, Str. 2. ad tert T.P. hymn. : lam surgit hora tertia.zstr. 1; Fer.
VI T.O. I ad tert., orat. conclus.
174. Sabb. T.O. I ad tert. orat. conclus.
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